Arkansas judge keeps prison firing-power laws blocked

Injunction remains in place

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Patricia James on Friday rejected a request to enforce two laws giving the governor authority to fire top state prison officials. Her decision leaves in place the permanent injunction she issued last October.

James found that a settlement between the Arkansas Board of Corrections and the state conflicted with the Arkansas Constitution. She also rejected the argument that a later Arkansas Supreme Court decision required her to lift the injunction.

The dispute began in 2023 after the corrections board suspended Corrections Secretary Joe Profiri, who said he answered to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders under the two laws passed that year. The board sued, arguing that the laws violated Amendment 33, which protects the board’s independence. James agreed and blocked the laws.

Board changed its position

The Board of Corrections approved a settlement in March that called the laws constitutional, reversing the position it had taken earlier in the case. The vote followed three new appointments that gave Sanders a majority on the seven-member board.

The board and Sanders argued that the settlement and a later state Supreme Court ruling left James little room to maintain the injunction. The Supreme Court directed James to consider lifting it but declined to end the injunction itself.

James ruled that the higher court’s direction preserved her authority to decide the request. She found no legal basis to lift the block and said accepting the settlement would improperly weaken judicial authority.

Board member Lee Watson and former board chair Benny Magness sought to intervene after the board changed its position. James allowed them to join the case earlier this month, and Watson praised Friday’s decision as protecting Amendment 33.