Lawmakers Criticize Arkansas Prison After Hardin Escape

Two Arkansas Department of Corrections employees were fired after their failures allowed Grant Hardin, a former police chief convicted of murder and rape, to escape from the North Central Unit in Calico Rock on May 25. Hardin accessed a restricted kitchen dock unsupervised and used a fake law enforcement uniform to pass through a secure gate without proper identity verification. The two-week manhunt ended with his capture less than two miles from the prison. Lawmakers criticized the escape as a preventable failure and highlighted broader systemic issues within the DOC. Corrections officials maintained that policies existed but were not followed, attributing the incident to personnel errors. The DOC has launched a critical incident review to determine if additional disciplinary or policy changes are necessary.