LITTLE ROCK, Ark. β A new Netflix series is creating a lot of conversation in Arkansas.
Unlocked: A Jail Experiment will premiere on April 10, highlighting an experiment at the Pulaski County jail.
Last year, Lucky 8, a film company, documented 46 inmates in an experiment in which they were unguarded to see if they could manage themselves.
However, Pulaski County Judge Barry Hyde said he didn't sign off on the project and found out about it 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.
"Do I have the authority to allow a camera crew to come into the facility?" Higgins said. "The answer was yes."
They were paid $1,000 a day to film for six weeks.
"It wasn't legally obtained," Hyde said. "It wasn't legally executed."
Hyde said no one can sign a contract for the county except him, but the sheriff said this is not a contract.
Now, the county attorney is investigating the document to determine its legality as the premiere date of the documentary approaches.
"We have a lot of good things going on in Pulaski County [and] in central Arkansas overall," Hyde said. "We don't want to showcase our citizens at their worst."
The sheriff told us he saw good results from the documentary's experiment. The show will be released on Netflix on April 10.
In response to the documentary, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders released the following statement, "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.β