A year after start of Franklin County prison project, state hasn’t done cultural survey of land

Arkansas Democrat

24 Nov 2025

https://edition.arkansasonline.com/article/8173666378496016

Arkansas hasn’t done an on-site cultural survey of the land where a proposed new prison in Franklin County would be located, to ensure there aren’t Native American artifacts or grave sites.

The only review of the area for historical or Native American sites was done this spring by a contractor reviewing existing historical databases through the Arkansas Archaeological Survey, and encompassed a 1.24 mile radius around the property, according to site survey documents obtained in a public records request by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

McClelland Consulting Engineers, Inc., conducted a review of available historical survey documents concerning the 815-acre site near Charleston and found no prior surveys of the area.

The database search by McClelland Consulting shows that the land sat mostly undeveloped from when it first appeared on an 1528 General Land Office map until 2006, when a Google Earth map shows a structure on the western third of the property Surveyors also found an eagle’s nest. The eagle is a bird both endangered and with cultural significance to the Chickamauga Nation.

The Chickamauga Nation, a federally recognized Native American tribe, has been pushing for a survey of the land before any work begins on the project. Cultural surveys must be undertaken to look for remains or artifacts and, under the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990, any remains or artifacts must be returned to a Native American tribe.

To show evidence that a tribe has a cultural affiliation with a certain piece of land, tribes may offer geographical, archaeological, anthropological, folkloric, historical, or other relevant information.

“This is right in the middle of our treaty and promised land,” said Justin Flanagan, western regional Medal Chief of the Chickamauga Nation. “We’re going to have to preserve what is culturaily important to us.”

The pushback from the tribe is one of several headwinds confronting the prison project, announced by Gov, Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Oct. 31, 2024.

Lawmakers have failed to pass $750 million in spending authority to start work on the project. Both Franklin County Judge Rickey Bowman and Sheriff Johnny Crocker have spoken out against the location, citing problems with the lacit of an available workforce as well as the lack of local support for placing a prison atop Mill Creek Mountain.

And, state-hired surveyors drilled on the property in search of water, but found a minimal flow. Attempts by the state to get a water supply from nearby cities have fallen flat.

The Department of Corrections said in the spring that the on-site archeological work in coordination with the State Historical Preservation Officer and consultation with select tribes were part of the due diligence process.

Rand Champion, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections, sald any cultural studies would be the work of the architect and engineering firms, which would coordinate with the tribe and other Interested parties.

To date, no work has been done at the site outside of maintenance and some preliminary testing and sampling” Champion said.

State Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, a frequent critic of the prison project, said the state hasn’t done enough research on the land to know if it is feasible to build there. The potential cultural impact and the lack of infrastructure make the site questionable at best for a prison, King said.

“It’s like gross incompetence on a scale that should alarm anybody in the state,” King said.

A cultural survey is necessary before the Department of Corrections can apply for and obtain a permit under section 404 of the federal Clean Water Act. That permit allows the discharge of dredged or fill material Into US. waters.

Flanagan said neither the Department of Corrections nor any contractor has reached out to the tribe about the land. A three-phase study is needed because of the “high potential that graves are on the site, he said. President Thomas Jefferson promised the land to the tribe in 1809 as part of an exchange for lands east of the Mississippi River, Flanagan said.

The state has likely unearthed evidence of graves in the area, Flanagan said. The large, rectangular stones at the front gate to the property resemble lids of what are known as Stone Box graves, commonly used by the Chickamauga Tribe, Flanagan said.

“They should involve us in that study,” Flanagan said. “They’re really going to disturb what’s below the surface, that includes some of the area that have high potential for Native American graves out there.”