Maximum Security Unit
| Location | Tucker, Arkansas |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 10,000 acres |
| Status | open |
| Capacity | 1126 |
| Opened | 1916 |
| Managed by | Arkansas Department of Correction |
The Tucker Unit is a prison in Tucker, Dudley Lake Township, unincorporated Jefferson County, Arkansas, 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Pine Bluff. It is operated by the Arkansas Department of Correction (ADC). Tucker is one of the state of Arkansas's "parent units" for male prisoners; it serves as one of several units of initial assignment for processed male prisoners.
A Maximum Security Unit was constructed a short distance north of the Tucker Unit in 1983.
In 1916 the State of Arkansas purchased about 4,400 acres (1,800 ha) of land to build the Tucker Unit. In 1933 Governor of Arkansas Junius Marion Futrell closed the Arkansas State Penitentiary ("The Walls"), and some prisoners moved to Tucker from the former penitentiary. In the process the designated execution chamber moved to Tucker. "Old Sparky", in operation within the state system from 1926 to 1948, was the equipment used to kill condemned prisoners at Tucker. In 1964 Charles Fields was executed at Tucker; he was the last prisoner to be executed at Tucker before the Arkansas death penalty was declared against the U.S. constitution. In history, the prison housed the state's White convicts. In addition the prison housed some black female prisoners.
In 1967 four men escaped from the unit and abandoned a vehicle used in the escape in Fort Scott, Kansas.
The Arkansas prison scandal occurred in the unit and involved the "Tucker Telephone." Due to the notoriety of the device, as of 2000 visitors to the Tucker Unit on a regular basis ask the warden if the telephone on his/her desk is the "Tucker Telephone."
In 1974 death row inmates, previously at the Tucker Unit, were moved to the Cummins Unit. In 1978 a new death chamber opened in Cummins, so Tucker was no longer the place of execution in Arkansas. In 1986 male death row inmates were moved to the Maximum Security Unit. On Friday August 22, 2003, all 39 Arkansas death row inmates, all of them male, were moved to the Supermax at the Varner Unit.
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