LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — The legal battle between the Arkansas Board of Corrections and the governor saw a significant reversal Monday, when the board voted to settle two separate lawsuits, conceding defeat and relinquishing significant authority to the governor.
The power struggle began in 2023 when the governor signed into law Act 185 and the Protect Act, which transferred some of the board’s power to the governor and placed the secretary of corrections and other key staff under her authority.
The Board of Corrections was quick to challenge those laws in court as unconstitutional, violating Amendment 33 of the Arkansas Constitution, which was created to protect state boards and agencies from executive branch overreach, and which says that a board’s power shall not be transferred…