Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders appoints Lindsay Wallace as Arkansas Secretary of Corrections
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has appointed a new Secretary of Corrections for Arkansas.
The governor appointed long-time state employee Lindsay Wallace to the role. Wallace has been the Chief of Staff for the Department of Corrections since 2020.
“It is an honor to be selected by Governor Sanders to lead this Department and enact her bold vision for Arkansas’ corrections system,” Wallace said. “Throughout my years in criminal justice work, I’ve seen how the status quo has failed crime victims, failed public safety, and failed our state.”
Wallace added that she was committed to working with stakeholders, the governor, the legislature and the Board of Corrections to fix the corrections system.
The governor said the appointment was from her responsibility for safety.
“The safety of all Arkansans is my priority,” Sanders said. “I have a responsibility as Governor to ensure our Department of Corrections operates under qualified leadership.”
Arkansas attorney general claims Board of Corrections broke law in interim appointment
Sanders said she had met with Board of Corrections Chairman Benny Magness on Wednesday afternoon and also spoke with other board members prior to announcing Wallace’s appointment.
“I appreciate Governor Sanders taking the time to meet with me yesterday and for the nomination of Lindsay Wallace as Secretary of the Department of Corrections,” Magness said. “The board will take action on the governor’s nomination as soon as we can get all members present for a meeting.”
Wallace is a lifelong Arkansan and a resident of Greenbrier with her husband and children. She is a graduate of UA Little Rock and has a law degree from the UA Little Rock Bowen School of Law.
According to her LinkedIn profile, she began with the state as the program coordinator for the Division of Medical Services/Medicaid in 2007, then moved to the Arkansas Sentencing Commission as an attorney in 2009. This led to her assuming the role of Interim Executive Director in January 2019 and then becoming Executive Director in June 2020.
Wallace’s appointment comes after the Tuesday resignation of Eddie Joe Williams, who served in the position of position of interim executive-in-charge for one week after being selected by the state Board of Corrections.
That appointment came after the board voted in January to fire the previous Sanders-appointed secretary of corrections, Joe Profiri, during rising friction between the governor’s office and the board.
The tension between the governor’s office and the board first gained public attention in November when the governor held a news conference, taking the board to task for not adding the number of beds to the prison system she had requested earlier that month through Profiri. The board said they only added a portion of what was requested due to inadequate security staffing.
Information from the Arkansas Department of Corrections shows that the security staffing vacancy rate is at an average of 32.38%, although some units are approaching a 50% vacancy rate in staffing.
Profiri, the former Deputy Director of Corrections for Arizona, was hired by the governor’s office shortly after his termination by the board of corrections and continues to serve as a consultant. The governor’s office confirmed Thursday he will remain in this role following Wallace’s appointment.
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