LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — This, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued a statement on a new Arkansas-based Netflix series that has been generating a lot of controversy around the state.
The series is called Unlocked: A Jail Experiment and will premiere on April 10. The series highlights an experiment at the Pulaski County jail — an experiment that Gov. Sanders labeled as "reckless."
"This is a reckless decision by the Pulaski County Sheriff and highlights the need for our new state prison to keep repeat violent offenders off our streets and our communities safe,” Gov. Sanders said in a statement.
Last year, the film company Lucky 8 documented 46 inmates in an experiment. During this experiment, the inmates were unguarded in an attempt to see if they could manage themselves.
But questions of legality began to surface as Pulaski County Judge Barry Hyde shared that he never signed off on the project and found out about its existence when Netflix released the trailer.
Hyde said the sheriff brought the idea to the county attorney in 2021, but questions of legality and liability made it seem impossible to implement.
"I think they interacted and exchanged legalese for two or three months after that," Hyde said. "We never heard anything about it again until last Thursday."
Pulaski County Sheriff Eric Higgins signed a "location release" with Lucky 8 in 2022 to film at the Pulaski County jail, stating that he had the authority to allow a camera crew into the facility.
They were paid $1,000 a day to film for six weeks.
Hyde, however, said that no one can sign a contract for the county except him. The sheriff refuted the idea that this was a contract to begin with.
As questions and controversy continue to mount, the Pulaski County Quorum Court passed two different measures this week related to the production of Unlocked: A Jail Experiment.
The first of the two ordinances would bring 40 questions upon Sheriff Higgins centered around the production and agency's role in it. The questions are expected to be answered by Higgins within 5 business days.
The second of the two ordinances would present questions from justices and constituents —these questions would include inquiries about production-related payments, employees and inmates that were paid, and potential injuries or deaths that occurred during production.
The county attorney is investigating the document to determine its legality as the premiere date of the documentary approaches on April 10.
Despite that, Sheriff Higgins claimed that he saw good results from the documentary's experiment.