ENGLAND — The Arkansas Board of Corrections is marking the opening of a newly remodeled training academy in central Arkansas.
The board will meet Friday at the Willis H. Sargent Training Academy in England. The Arkansas Department of Correction remodeled the former England Middle School to convert it into an academy to train correctional officers.
The academy includes eight classrooms, a gymnasium, an auditorium and four housing units. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for Friday.
The board is expected to hear updates Friday on its inmate population, which has grown sharply in the past year. Earlier this week, the correction department finalized an agreement to lease space from Pulaski County to house up to 250 state inmates who had been held in county jails.
(Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten, broadcast or distributed.)