Evictions in Arkansas can snowball from criminal charges to arrests to jail time because of a 119-year-old law that mostly impacts female, Black and low-income renters. Even prosecutors have called it unconstitutional.
Fraud prevention efforts by the Division of Workforce Services have slowed the flow of aid to jobless Arkansans.
Just 48.7 percent of Springdale's population was non-Hispanic white in 2019. And yet a person of color has never held elected office in city government.
Across the state, from Bentonville to Crossett, thousands of Arkansans have taken to the streets in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and to protest police brutality. Some are seasoned organizers. Some are first-time protesters. Some have served on task forces, met with elected leaders, received death threats. They are racially diverse, and they span generations. And they have decided, despite a pandemic that put them at risk when gathering, to keep coming out. Here are a few of their stories.
Inmates at Arkansas's Cummins Unit say guards treated them like “lepers” as COVID-19 tore through the penitentiary.
“His landlord began a campaign to terrorize him,” renter's attorney says.
At least 100 civil eviction complaints have been filed for nonpayment of rent in the state in the month of April, according to an analysis by an expert in housing law, a figure that represents a significant undercount in the total number of eviction actions because of limitations in tracking.
Arkansas poultry plants see 64 COVID-19 cases and at least one death.
On March 20, the Arkansas Foodbank had to suspend its volunteer operations as part of statewide efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, and the organization began seeking ways to fill that gap — even in the face of a swiftly escalating demand for food aid. Enter Get Shift Done, a platform that contracts service industry workers in need of a paycheck to come in and box up food for hunger relief organizations.
From March 17 to April 17, the Garland County District Court issued 2,376 warrants for failure to pay fines and fees, according to the state Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC). The number of warrants in Garland County far outpaces those issued by other counties in the same time period: Crittenden County issued 48 warrants on the West Memphis docket, and Pulaski County issued 62 on the Little Rock docket.
Faced with mounting criticism about the limited amount of COVID-19 testing in the state, Governor Hutchinson on Thursday afternoon announced plans for a “testing surge” across the state today and tomorrow.
Helps protect health care workers and civilians.
The Arkansas Nonprofit News Network is an independent, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to producing journalism that matters to Arkansans. Our work is re-published by partner newsrooms across the state.
