Barbara Ester Unit

Barbara A. Ester Unit is a correctional facility of the Arkansas Department of Correction (ADC), located in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. It is scheduled to have a capacity of 580 prisoners, and it is the first prison in the ADC dedicated to the re-entry of prisoners into society.^[1] In addition to prisoners who are to be released within six months it also houses prisoners who were incarcerated due to disobeying the rules of their parole.^[2] The prison's namesake is Barbara Ester, a prison guard holding the rank corporal at the East Arkansas Unit. She died on January 20, 2012 at the hands of a prisoner.^[1]

History

It was previously known as the Diagnostic Unit. In 2015 the Ester Unit began to receive prisoners.^[2] The prison's dedication as the Ester Unit occurred in August 2016; at that time its capacity was temporarily 380 prisoners.^[1]

In December 2016 the ADC announced that it would move about 175 prisoners from the Pulaski County Jail's Wrightsville Annex to the Ester Unit; the Wrightsville Annex held prisoners soon to be released and parole violators, and the ADC stated it did not have the necessary funds to operate both Ester and the Wrightsville annex. The Ester Unit's construction was scheduled to finish in late March 2017.^[2]

Programs

The prison has a dedicated barracks for military veterans who have prison sentences. There is a General Education Development (GED) program and the "Preparing for Success" program, a re-entry program which uses the National Institute of Corrections Thinking for a Change (T4C) curriculum.^[1]

References

1 2 3 4 "Family, prison officials dedicate new Ester Reentry Unit". The Pine Bluff Commercial. 2016-08-24. Retrieved 2017-08-01.
1 2 3 King, Ray (2016-12-01). "Prison Barbara Ester Unit to add additional beds, prisoners". The Pine Bluff Commercial. Retrieved 2017-08-01.

External links

Barbara Ester Unit

Pine Bluff, Arkansas

Areas

Education

Primary & Secondary Schools	Dollarway SD Dollarway HS Pine Bluff SD Pine Bluff HS Watson Chapel SD Watson Chapel HS White Hall SD Ridgway Christian School St. Joseph Catholic School (CLOSED) St. Peter's Catholic School (CLOSED)
Tertiary institutions	University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff See template Southeast Arkansas College

Landmarks

ADC Units

Barbara Ester Unit (former Diagnostic Unit)
Pine Bluff Unit
Randall L. Williams Correctional Facility

Media

The Pine Bluff Commercial

Transportation

Grider Field

Culture

King Cotton Classic (DISCONTINUED)

(*) is something associated with Pine Bluff but outside the city limits

Arkansas Department of Correction prisons
State prisons	Benton Unit Boot Camp Program♂♀ Cummins Unit Delta Regional Unit East Arkansas Regional Unit Barbara Ester Unit Grimes Unit Hawkins Center for Women♀ Maximum Security Unit McPherson Unit♀ North Central Unit Ouachita River Unit Pine Bluff Unit Texarkana Regional Correction Center Tucker Unit Varner Unit Randall L. Williams Correctional Facility Wrightsville Unit
Work release centers	Mississippi County Work Release Center Northwest Arkansas Work Release Center
Above facilities are male-only unless noted by ♀ (female only) or ♂♀ (both sexes)

Coordinates: 34°13′19″N 92°04′59″W / 34.222°N 92.083°W / 34.222; -92.083

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.