Jonesboro, AR — (JonesboroRightNow.com) — May 19, 2025 — Northeast Arkansas Career and Technical Center (NEACTC) students are working to combat the overcrowding issue in the Craighead County Detention Center by building more bunks.
The sheriff’s office reached out to administrators with the NEACTC, asking the school to build additional bunks after it decided to stop housing inmates through the Act 309 program around two months ago. The sheriff’s office is paying for the materials, which cost $500 to $600 per bunk.
The 309 program allows inmates housed in the Arkansas Department of Corrections to live and work in approved city or county jails. The Craighead County Detention Center housed ten 309 inmates.
Craighead County Sheriff Marty Boyd said the decision to no longer house 309 inmates came as a response to the overcrowding. The county jail houses around 400 inmates on average, when it was originally designed to hold 160 inmates. It can hold up to 360 at max.
“The thing we really had to consider on that decision was losing the labor force of the 309s,” Boyd said. “They do a lot of our maintenance work, our kitchen, laundry services, things like that. Because of overcrowding issues and where we’re at, we had to add that additional space where it was available.”
309 inmates must be housed in a separate space. In that area, Boyd said NEACTC’s bunks would provide 40 new beds in addition to the 10 already there, bringing the space’s total beds to 50. This area will only house misdemeanor men.
Boyd previously told JRN the jail hardly holds anyone convicted of misdemeanors, and instead primarily holds felons due to state mandates. He said he hopes these new beds will help offset part of that issue.
“We have that additional bedding where they can come and serve,” the sheriff said. “Hopefully, we’re giving them consequences where they’re not gonna go back in and reoffend.”
Henry Laxton, welding and fabrication instructor at NEACTC, said his students have been involved in all aspects of building the bunks, from design to welding.
The bunks are designed with a railing to prevent an inmate from falling off and have holes in the bottom to allow for easy cleaning. The bunks are 60 inches tall, 32 inches wide and 80 inches long and have space for two beds.
While building the bunks, students practice different type of welds, including fillet welds, butt welds, T-welds and lap welds, Laxton said.
“The welds have to be smooth; there have to be no sharp edges anywhere around it. So, all the angles, all the welds, have to be gone over – barehanded – and make sure there’s no access or any way possible than an inmate or whomever sleeps on it would hurt themselves,” Laxton said.
Laxton said his students have loved working on the project.
“I’ll give them a free day whenever they’ve been working real hard,” Laxton said. “I have a lot of students who will not work on their personal projects and will come out here and work on those beds because they’re so determined to get it done.”
Garrett Barnes, assistant director of NEACTC and Justice of the Peace for District 2 on the Craighead County quorum court, said he wasn’t aware of any other measures to handle the overcrowding issue, but would be open to NEACTC students assisting in future efforts regarding jail space.
During discussions for the 2025 county operating budget, Barnes said county leaders should consider working a “plan for the detention center” into the 2026 budget. During the 2024 general election, the issue to approve a temporary 0.5% sales tax to fund either a new jail or expansion failed, with 52.21% voting against it.
“As a JP, I hope to see that we can get a future plan together,” Barnes said. “Any way that our students can help the jail, not just on that regard, but in any other capacity, whether it be with the county or with the city or a nonprofit organization, I would love the opportunity to help them and give our students these types of experiences at our school.”