Something noteworthy happened March 20: Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ appointment to the state Board of Corrections came up for a Senate confirmation, and eight Republicans voted no.
That vote further illustrates the challenges Sanders will have in building her proposed prison in Franklin County.
The 19-11 vote was about the appointment of Jamie Barker, a former Sanders deputy chief of staff and now a lobbyist, to the board that governs the state’s prisons.
Barker had already been serving on the seven-member board. In fact, he had been elected chairman 4-3 with the support of the three other Sanders appointees. The three appointed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson voted against his chairmanship.
His appointment required 18 Senate votes for him to remain. If it had failed this time, it could have come up for another vote when some of the five absent senators were present.
Eight Republicans voting no against their governor’s nominee would not have happened when she first entered office. Those eight were Ronald Caldwell of Wynne, Bryan King of Green Forest, Scott Flippo of Bull Shoals, John Payton of Wilburn, Jimmy Hickey of Texarkana, Clint Penzo of Springdale, Terry Rice of Waldron, and Brad Simon of Paris.
Some expressed doubts about Barker’s qualifications. He’s young – 30-ish – and his experience is in politics, not corrections or law enforcement.
Meanwhile, the whole thing is tied up in the debate over Sanders’ proposed 3,000-bed Franklin County prison. Of those eight Republicans, five voted against the prison’s appropriations bill last year in the last of five votes. Caldwell and King, both of whom voted no, recently won re-election campaigns where Sanders endorsed their opponent. Flippo voted present, which has the same effect as voting no, after earlier voting for it.
Simon, whose district would include the prison, won a special election March 3 after pledging to oppose it. Payton had voted for it.
In fact, the Senate wouldn’t have approved Barker’s nomination this time without two Democrats voting yes. Sens. Reginald Murdock of Marianna and Clarke Tucker of Little Rock sat out the original roll call and then voted for it when given a chance to change their votes.
Murdock, who voted present on the prison all five times, said he generally does not oppose a governor’s appointments unless there’s a very serious concern, as reported by Arkansas Advocate.
Tucker, a prison opponent, told me that if Barker’s nomination ultimately had failed, Sanders would have nominated another prison supporter. He said that while Barker and he disagree about that and many other issues, they have a good working relationship and agree on prison reforms to help offenders re-enter society.
Opposition to the Franklin County site has been strong from the beginning, and now it appears to be even stronger in the Senate. Many Franklin County locals don’t want it. There are serious questions about the site’s proposed suitability from an infrastructure standpoint.
Speaker of the House Brian Evans, R-Cabot, told Arkansas Advocate that while a majority of legislators support a new prison, he doesn’t expect anything to happen when lawmakers meet in their fiscal session April 8. These occur every even-numbered year and focus on budgetary matters.
Something will have to happen eventually. Arkansas has more inmates than it and its county jails can hold. That number won’t decrease with the passage in 2023 of the Protect Arkansas Act. It requires the most serious offenders to serve all or almost all of their sentences, depending on the crime.
Since lawmakers won’t be funding a prison this year, could it happen in 2027? Sanders will be coming off a comfortable re-election that may put her in a stronger place politically. A little more time will have passed since this year’s divisive primary elections.
On the other hand, the passage of time often is not a governor’s friend. The longer a person holds office, the more their influence can wane. Mistakes are made. People tire of each other. Political winds shift. It certainly happened with her predecessor, Hutchinson.
One wild card is that Caldwell has announced he is running to be the next Senate president pro tempore. If his fellow senators elect him, it would represent a major change in the dynamic between the Senate and the governor’s office. The current pro tempore, Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, is an unwavering Sanders ally. Sen. Breanne Davis, R-Russellville, recently announced she also is running for the post. She is a Sanders ally. In fact, she was the Senate sponsor of Sanders’ LEARNS Act.
Many questions remain in the coming months. For this upcoming fiscal session, the answer is pretty clear: No prison, at least not yet.
© 2026 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.
Steve Brawner’s column is syndicated to 24 outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com.