A concrete prison wall Image: Adobe Stock

Planned for an 815-acre site near Charleston, Arkansas, in Franklin County, the facility will include multiple housing units with integrated services such as dining, recreation, education, healthcare, and behavioural health treatment.

A centralised kitchen will prepare up to 9,500 meals daily, and additional program areas will support vocational training and addiction recovery.

Both general contractors, Nabholz is based in Conway, Arkansas, while fellow building contractor JE Dunn (one of the ten largest general building contractors in the country) is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, US.

JE Dunn previously completed a 2,552-bed prison in Tennessee, US, within 16 months, and Nabholz has a 30-year history of working on US Department of Corrections projects, .

, with California, US-based Vanir Construction Management overseeing the project as an owner representative.

While the scheme has not yet secured full funding, it received $75 million from the corrections board, previously appropriated for prison construction, to advance the process. A bill to appropriate an additional $750 million failed to pass in the Arkansas State Senate earlier this year.

Pending full funding which could require more than $1 billion, early site work could begin as soon as September 2025, with phased operations starting in 2026 and full completion expected by 2028.

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