JUSTICE ACTION NETWORK APPLAUDS ARKANSAS GOV. ASA HUTCHINSON FOR SIGNING BILL TO ELIMINATE “STACKING” DRUG OFFENSES

LEGISLATION WILL DECREASE INCARCERATION FOR NONVIOLENT OFFENSES AND SAVE TAXPAYER DOLLARS 

HB1604 Eliminates Ability To Stack Two Drug Charges Together And Raise Low Level Offenses To High Level Offenses

(Little Rock, AR) -- Today, Governor Asa Hutchinson signed H.B. 1604, a critical piece of criminal justice legislation that prohibits individuals from being convicted  for both drug paraphernalia and drug possession. Drug ‘stacking’ can lead to individuals receiving long prison sentences after a single arrest for nonviolent offenses. The legislation was sponsored by Representative Jimmy Gazaway (R-57). 

“For far too long, some Arkansans’ charged with nonviolent drug offenses have had decades of prison time added to their sentences, keeping thousands of people incarcerated in already overcrowded prisons and jails,” said Carl Filler, State Policy Analyst at Justice Action Network, the country’s largest bipartisan criminal justice organization. “This bill will finally put an end to drug stacking - an unjust practice that has wasted taxpayer dollars on long sentences for individuals who are not a threat to public safety. We thank Representative Gazaway and Governor Hutchinson for their leadership in working to decrease incarceration and make Arkansas a leader in commonsense, bipartisan criminal justice reform.”