More Arkansas prison employees disciplined after 'Devil in the Ozarks' escape

Additional employees at an Arkansas prison have been disciplined for not following procedures after a convicted murderer known as the “Devil in the Ozarks” escaped earlier this summer, a state prison system official told lawmakers Monday.

Arkansas Division of Correction Director Dexter Payne said several employees at the Calico Rock prison had been suspended and another demoted for allowing inmates to use an outdoor kitchen dock unsupervised. Payne did not specify how many employees had been suspended, and did not give their names.

“Those employees have also been disciplined for their actions,” Payne told members of the Legislative Council’s Charitable, Penal and Correctional Institutions Subcommittee.

The dock had played a key role in the May 25 escape of Grant Hardin from the prison, formally known as the North Central Unit. Two employees at the facility, including one who allowed Hardin on the dock unsupervised, had previously been fired in the weeks following his escape. Hardin held a job in the prison’s kitchen.

Hardin was captured 1.5 miles northwest of the Calico Rock prison on June 6. Authorities said he escaped by donning an outfit designed to look like a law enforcement uniform. The outfit was crafted from an inmate uniform and a kitchen apron dyed black using a marker, while a soup can lid and a Bible cover were fashioned to look like a badge, corrections officials told the panel last month.

The other employee who had been fired earlier had opened the gate that Hardin walked through without confirming his identity.

Payne said corrections officials have nearly completed the report on their critical incident review of the escape. Payne said the review found that Hardin had been incorrectly classified as eligible to be housed at Calico Rock, which is primarily a medium-security facility. Hardin had been held at the Calico Rock prison since 2017. 



(Arkansas Department of Corrections via AP, File)