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State Reform Profile

Arkansas

Arkansas has seen modest reform. Act 423 expanded parole and probation alternatives, but incarceration rates remain among the highest nationally.

ALTREFORM COMPOSITE66/100

Key Statistics

Incarceration Rate
588
per 100,000 residents
Annual Cost
$20K
per incarcerated person
3-Year Recidivism
70%
reincarcerated within 3 yrs
Racial Disparity
3.8×
Black vs. White incarceration
Alt. Programs
14
active diversion programs
Reform Initiatives
3
tracked by AltReform

Incarceration by Race

AR Overall588
National Avg568
Black (est.)1,341
White (est.)277

Incarceration rate per 100,000 residents. Racial estimates based on BJS/Sentencing Project methodology.

Recidivism Rate

70%3-year recidivism
This stateNational avg: 67%

Percent of people reincarcerated within 3 years of release. Source: BJS recidivism data series.

Cost vs. Alternatives

$20K
incarceration/yr
vs.
~$5K
diversion/yr

Active & Passed Reforms

3 initiatives

Act 423 – Community Supervision ReformView full details →

Expanded eligibility for community supervision alternatives.

PassedDiversion2021
AltReform Score65/100

Drug Court ExpansionView full details →

Tripled drug court capacity statewide.

ActiveDrug Policy2019
AltReform Score70/100

AR Reentry InitiativeView full details →

Jobs and housing support for people leaving state prisons.

ActiveReentry2020
AltReform Score63/100

Data Sources & Methodology

Reform data sourced from state legislative records, BJS Criminal Justice Statistics, the Vera Institute Incarceration Trends dataset, and The Sentencing Project. AltReform prediction scores (0,100) are generated by our ML model trained on 20+ years of state-level reform outcomes, weighting recidivism reduction, racial equity impact, cost-effectiveness, and political feasibility. Statistics are the most recent available (2021,2024).

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