Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders proclaimed April 21st-25th Reentry Awareness Week. Governor Sanders stated, “With more than 90,000 adult offenders currently incarcerated or supervised by the Department of Corrections, Arkansas is committed to lowering recidivism through an effective reentry process that provides offenders with opportunities for success in the community.”
The Arkansas Department of Corrections believes that reentry is not a specific program but rather a process that starts with those initially incarcerated and ends when they have been successfully reintegrated in the community.
Read the proclamation below:
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS COME – GREETINGS:
WHEREAS: With more than 90,000 adult offenders currently incarcerated or supervised by the Department of Corrections, Arkansas is committed to lowering recidivism through an effective reentry process that provides offenders with opportunities for success in the community; and
WHEREAS: A majority of state prison inmates will be released from prison at some point in their sentence, but face obstacles long after their incarceration ends. A criminal record can create barriers to rejoining the workforce, finding adequate housing, securing transportation, and meeting financial obligations. These barriers contribute to more than fifty percent of offenders returning to prison within three years of release; and
WHEREAS: The Protect Arkansas Act passed in 2023 and signaled historic investment in public safety and commitment to the goals of rehabilitation and reentry; and
WHEREAS: Because high recidivism increases the cost of corrections and puts Arkansas citizens at a greater risk of becoming victims of crime, it is imperative that offenders returning to the community have the programs, services, and support they need to become productive, crime-free citizens of the state; and
WHEREAS: Reentry begins on an offender’s first day of incarceration and continues through release, providing offenders with the tools necessary to turn away from criminal behavior and embrace a better future where they are contributing to society and taking care of their families; and
WHEREAS: State agencies across Arkansas are focused on reentry, but Arkansas reentry efforts extend well beyond correctional agencies through partnerships with community-based groups, faith-based organizations, and volunteers across the state that can assist offenders returning to their communities; and
WHEREAS: State agencies across Arkansas are focused on reentry, but Arkansas reentry efforts extend well beyond correctional agencies through partnerships with community-based groups, faith-based organizations, and volunteers across the state that can assist offenders returning to their communities; and
WHEREAS: Arkansans can enhance public safety by supporting evidence-based practices and joining reentry efforts that decrease reoffending and offer hope for offenders returning home from incarceration;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, Governor of the State of Arkansas, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the laws of the State of Arkansas, do hereby proclaim April 21th through April 25th, 2025, as
“REENTRY AWARENESS WEEK”
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Arkansas to be affixed this 11th day of April in the year of our Lord 2025.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Governor
