LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) A defunct correctional facility in southeastern Arkansas will be transformed into a re-entry hub for military veterans under a measure Gov. Asa Hutchison has signed into law.The bill authorizes the Arkansas Department of Community Correction, with approval from the Board of Corrections and governor, to donate the Southeast Arkansas Community Corrections Center in Pine Bluff to an Arkansas-based nonprofit that serves ex-armed service members.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports Hutchison approved the measure Wednesday.
The agency has been negotiating with Veteran Villages of America. The nonprofit aims to transform the 52-acre, 350-bed facility into a veteran’s center that provides vocational training, mental health treatment and temporary housing.
The Department of Community Correction intends to send some of the roughly 1,300 veterans in their custody to the facility once it’s functioning.
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