ACC quietly arrives in WM

ACC quietly arrives in WM

Deputy Director: ‘ Nobody has really noticed’

news@theeveningtimes.com

About 250 non-violent female inmates have settled into their new home in West Memphis at the former Crittenden Regional Hospital.

Arkansas Community Corrections is leasing the building from the county for a treatment center which will eventually house 350 inmates and bring 136 new jobs to the county.

ACC spokeswoman Dina Tyler said the inmates were transferred June 15-17 from Arkansas Community Correction’s southeast Arkansas facility in Pine Bluff which is being shut down and moved to West Memphis.

“We knew this would be a good move,” Tyler said.

“The facility is so much better than what we were using in Pine Bluff. And we like the fact that we are there and nobody has really noticed.”

ACC cleaned up the grounds and has been renovating the building to suit its needs.

Tyler said they have expanded the dining area, done some retrofitting of the rooms, and are currently renovating the third floor which was damaged by a fire for additional dorm space.

“We have some repairs to make and will have some more,” Tyler said. “But the facility had not deteriorated. It has just been a lot of retrofitting. For instance, those are hospital rooms and they have a gazillion plugs wall to wall. So we’ve gone in there and taken them out and also taken the doors off — things like that to make it work for us. We’re very pleased with it and the community has been wonderful.”

The building sat empty since August 2014 when the hospital closed and declared bankruptcy.

The county spent over $1 million to keep the lights on and the building secured.

The lease is for 10 years.

ACC will assume all responsibility for maintenance and upkeep.

The facility in Pine Bluff had 35 buildings and dated back to the 1900s and would have required $10 million in repair work.

ACC has budgeted $650,000 for repairs and plan to replace the roof.

Tyler said they still have about 60 more inmates who will be moved from Texarkana once the renovations to the third floor rooms are finished.

“We will be moving them out to West Memphis later this month,” Tyler said.

“We had to hold off transferring them until we have another housing unit available.”

The facility will have a $6 million payroll and eventually employ 138 people with salaries ranging from $25,000 to $52,000.

Tyler said they are still in the process of hiring staff.

About 15 percent of the staff from Pine Bluff accepted transfers.

“We are behind some,” Tyler said. “We had one group come out of the academy and a second group is about to finish.

And a third group has started the academy. Some of them are brand new to corrections. So everything is going good.”

County Judge Woody Wheeless said he is pleased with the work they have done and believes it is a good thing for the community.

“I did a tour a few weeks ago and was really impressed with that they have done with the building both inside and out,” Wheeless said. “And unless you have driven by there you don’t even know they are there. It is a good fit for them and a good fit for us.”

By Mark Randall