The Pulaski County sheriff went outside his authority when he struck an agreement to allow a crew to film a Netflix series about an "experiment" with giving more freedom to a group of inmates at the jail, the county judge said Tuesday.
County Judge Barry Hyde, the county's top administrative official, said in a statement that Sheriff Eric Higgins in 2021 presented the idea of having a crew from Lucky 8 TV Inc. film inside the Pulaski County jail, but the deal was never finalized after Hyde and a county attorney raised concerns.
Now, a series filmed in the jail by Lucky 8 called "Unlocked: A Jail Experiment" is set to premiere on Netflix on April 10. A sheriff's office spokesperson said the series was filmed in 2023 between Feb. 18 and April 10, and she provided a filming agreement signed by Higgins on Aug. 19, 2022.
"As you would imagine, it was a surprise to learn last week that, more than two years later, the Pulaski County jail is featured in a Netflix series," Hyde said in the statement.
Only the county judge can contractually obligate the county and its employees, Hyde said in the statement. Sheriff's office spokeswoman Kristin Knox said she thought the filming agreement did not constitute a contract and that she would ask Higgins what he considered to be his rights as sheriff. Attempts by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette to reach Higgins for comment have not been successful.
"The experiment was conducted within the parameters of many normal jail operations and adhered to jail standards and there was no specific requirement to inform Judge Hyde," Knox said in a statement when asked why Hyde wasn't informed.
Hyde said he was still gathering information Tuesday and considering if he would "take action against the sheriff's illegal agreement."
The sheriff's office did not receive any compensation for the series other than a $1,000 payment for each day the crew filmed in the jail, Knox said Tuesday. That payment was outlined in the filming agreement released to the Democrat-Gazette last week.
Knox said Tuesday she wasn't completely sure where within the sheriff's office the money from those payments was directed and that she wouldn't be able to provide the total amount paid until late this week or early next week.
Sheriff's office officials this week provided the Democrat-Gazette with the names of 50 current or former inmates and nine current or former deputies who participated in the filming of the show. No actors were used in the course of the production.
Inmates who participated were not compensated monetarily, Knox said in a statement, but were provided with free phone time and items from the jail's commissary including headphones, footwear and pillows.
Although the series trailer released last week stated that the experiment involved "no locks and no officers," Knox said participating inmates who broke jail rules or committed crimes received no special treatment. If warranted, criminal charges were filed or disciplinary actions were taken, she said.
On Tuesday, it wasn't clear if any charges had been filed against inmates during the course of the filming. The trailer appeared to show fighting, drug use and the fermenting of prison wine, but 6th Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Will Jones over the weekend said he wasn't aware of the series until seeing the trailer and so wasn't able to comment on whether his office had prosecuted criminal behavior related to the series.
Inmates were notified about the experiment and interviewed by the Lucky 8 producers, Knox said when asked how the participants were selected. Staff performed a final "review of charges" for participating inmates, Knox said, although she didn't elaborate on what that entailed.
On Tuesday, 11 of the 50 people on the list of participating inmates still appeared on the jail's online inmate roster. Most of the men who remained behind bars were being held on behalf of another agency such as the Arkansas Department of Corrections, the U.S. Marshals Service or the Arkansas State Hospital.
At least six of the participating inmates were being held on charges of capital or first-degree murder during the series' filming dates.
One of them, 21-year-old Javian Sprinkle, was convicted in December of first-degree murder in the Sept. 21, 2021, killing of Michael Littles, 62, in North Little Rock.
Sprinkle was being held in the jail Tuesday on behalf of the Arkansas Department of Corrections, whose records show he was sentenced to a total of 45 years in prison for the murder count and other felony charges.
Another, Terry Beckton, 29, was charged with capital murder and aggravated robbery in the April 30, 2022, killing of Setric Millner in Little Rock, but was released after the filming dates because prosecutors dropped the charges -- citing a lack of evidence aside from the single eyewitness to the shooting -- in June 2023, court records show.
Asked if Higgins considers the experiment a success, Knox in a statement said that it allowed sheriff's office staff to "evaluate our beliefs about humane treatment and alternatives and will inform us as we move forward in the future."
The experiment's purpose was to "explore alternative approaches to incarceration while maintaining a safe and secure environment for everyone involved," Knox said in the same statement.
Higgins in the past has promoted his use of re-entry programs intended to offer willing inmates substance abuse disorder treatment and education programs, with the hope that these people will be less likely to be jailed again.
The experiment was not directly related to those programs, Knox said in the statement, but it was inspired by the same ideals.
"Treating inmates with dignity and respect encourages positive behavior and better prepares them for reintegration into society," Knox said in the statement.