LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A Friday decision by Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Patricia James continues the independence of the Arkansas Board of Corrections.
The decision overturned a proposed settlement between the BOC and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. If the judge had upheld the settlement, the governor would have control over the board, which was originally independent per Amendment 33 to the Arkansas Constitution.
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Amendment 33 became law in 1942 after a controversy when Gov. Homer Adkins worked to remove President J. William Fulbright from the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees.
Also at issue were Acts 185 and 659 of 2023, which were meant to give the governor control over the BOC and had previously been overturned by Judge James in an October decision…