Joe Profiri was a good guy. But then he got a promotion.
“He was good when he was in the lower ranks,” said Carlos Garcia, executive director of the Arizona Correctional Peace Officers Association, which is the state’s largest independent labor organization.
“Once they started promoting and they put him in the fold, he becomes a company man,” said Garcia.
Profiri was eventually promoted to deputy director of the Arizona Department of Corrections.
“It was all over,” said Garcia. “He was doing crazy things and allowing crazy things to go on. And he got used to that. This guy’s been grass-fed now. He’s going to go to Arkansas and do the same thing.”
What crazy things was he doing?
Among others, adding prison beds without sufficient staff to maintain safety, under orders from former Gov. Doug Ducey, said Garcia.
“You think it’s appropriate to have more beds when you don’t have staff? That’s suicidal,” said Garcia. “Adding more beds when you don’t have staff, assaults go up. Even inmates have families. … You’re also harming the public at the same time.”
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders hired Profiri a year ago to be Arkansas’ secretary of corrections.
“During his career with the Arizona Department of Corrections, Joe has served in many capacities, beginning in 1988 as a correctional officer,” according to a news release from the governor’s office. He was appointed deputy director of the Arizona department in 2018.
On Wednesday — after a row over Profiri’s attempt to add hundreds of beds in Arkansas prisons — the state Board of Corrections voted 5-2 to fire him from that job.
A few hours later, Sanders announced she had hired Profiri as a senior adviser in her office.
Alexa Henning, the governor’s press secretary, didn’t respond to voicemail and email messages on Thursday asking how much Profiri will be paid, where the money will come from, and what his duties will be. She also didn’t respond to emails asking whether Profiri would be made available for an interview.
Dina Tyler, director of communications for the Arkansas Department of Corrections, said Profiri will have to vacate his residence provided by the state.
“By policy, employees who live in staff housing have 30 days to vacate the premises after termination,” Tyler said in an email. “Most don’t stay that long, but some employees need the time to make other arrangements.”
Garcia said he has known Profiri for more than 30 years. Garcia said he worked for the Arizona Department of Corrections for 20 years, and for Dora Schriro, a previous department director, for three years.
In Arizona, Profiri worked most recently for Department of Corrections Director David Shinn. Both left their jobs at the end of 2022, just before Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, took over as governor, replacing the Republican Gov. Ducey, who was prohibited by term limit laws from running again.
Garcia said Profiri was “way more knowledgeable” than Shinn about Arizona prisons.
Profiri had served briefly as acting director of the department after the retirement of Charles Ryan in August 2019. Ducey appointed Shinn as director in October of that year.
Garcia said things were particularly bad during the pandemic.
“We were short staffed and we were in the midst of covid,” he said. “So our staff was in worse condition than ever. These two fellows — between Profiri and Shinn, they backed each other up — they claimed that prison was the safest place to be and that we didn’t need to wear masks or anything for protection against covid. …
“A month later, we ended up losing at least 15 inmates and a few staff. Among the staff that passed away because of those s****y mandates were two deputy wardens … and a couple of other high-ranked individuals. Only then did they say, ‘OK wear masks, we have to wear masks and all that.’”
Garcia said a deputy director should provide counsel to the director and tell them when they come up with a bad idea. Otherwise, the deputy director is complicit.
Garcia said Shinn and Profiri would “try to shave policy down to make it more convenient for them and the governor.”
“It was a constant battle until he left, until that guy left and you guys took him,” said Garcia. “It was the same garbage you guys are going to experience. … You can’t protect the public if you don’t have staff. You can’t add more beds if you don’t have staff. That is a formula for disaster that we experienced and now you guys are experiencing it over there.”
Profiri is at the center of a constitutional crisis in Arkansas corrections.
Hired by the governor, Profiri operated as if he didn’t have to answer to the state Board of Corrections.
Historically, under the Arkansas Constitution, the secretary serves at the pleasure of the board. But last year, two laws were passed that appear to change that.
Acts 185 and 659 were passed during the 2023 legislative session and signed into law by Sanders. Act 185 would require the secretary of corrections to serve at the pleasure of the governor, and Act 659 would, in part, require directors of the Divisions of Correction and Community Correction to serve at the pleasure of the secretary.
Attorneys for the board argue that the laws violate the state constitution’s Amendment 33, which was ratified in 1942. The amendment prevents the Legislature and governor from making certain changes to boards or commissions that oversee the state’s charitable, penal or correctional institutions, as well as institutions of higher learning.
The board filed a lawsuit seeking to ensure that the it maintains its authority to supervise and manage the corrections secretary, as well as the directors of the Department of Corrections’ Division of Correction and Division of Community Correction.
Pulaski County Circuit Judge Patricia James on Dec. 15 issued a temporary restraining order barring the enforcement of Act 185 of 2023 and portions of Act 659 of 2023, which the board contends weaken the board’s authority set forth in the Arkansas Constitution.
After a hearing last week, James converted the order into a preliminary injunction, which will stay in place until the lawsuit is resolved.
Attorney General Tim Griffin, who represents the defendants in the lawsuit, promised to appeal the judge’s ruling to the Arkansas Supreme Court.
Garcia had some thoughts on the latest saga.
“Any governor that hires a director, that director is mandated to do what that governor’s agenda is,” he said. “Whatever that governor wants, that director’s going to do. And if people think that’s not true, they’re completely delusional. …
“This is not that they’re bad people: These are good people doing bad things. When you promote to a position that is so high that you have to answer to a governor or a president, you have to make an oath to them and tell them, ‘I will do what needs to be done, whether it’s right or wrong, and if I don’t like it, I shouldn’t work for you.’”
It’s still like the Wild West in Arizona, Garcia said.
“We carry pistols with gun exposed,” he said. “We don’t need permits. We can walk around with an AR-15 on our back for all we care. Gigantic machetes. It doesn’t matter. This is the wild, wild West. These gentlemen have that mentality, and when they move somewhere else, they bring it with them. … He went over there with the mentality of Arizona: We will do what we want to do and enforce it, and you will do what we say, not what we do.’ That was the philosophy. It always has been.”
Relations deteriorated between Profiri and the board in November when board members learned that Profiri was forging ahead to add a total of 622 additional beds to five prisons.
During a public meeting that month, the board approved adding 60 beds at the Ouachita River Unit in Malvern and 70 beds at the North Central Unit in Calico Rock, but held off on adding the additional 492 at three other facilities.
Board member Lee Watson said Profiri was not present during that meeting and that the board learned “by proxy” about the secretary’s desire to add those beds.
In spite of Profiri’s absence and refusal to communicate, the board still approved the new beds at Ouachita River and North Central units, Watson said.
Sanders held a news conference at the state Capitol the next week to criticize the board for failing to approve all the beds Profiri had requested.
Sanders called for the board to hold an emergency meeting to add the beds. Instead, it took up the issue at its next regular meeting, on Dec. 8.
During the December meeting, Profiri was present, but he was “defensive” and “argumentative” when the subject of more beds was brought up, Watson said.
The board approved adding 124 beds at the Ester Unit and tentatively agreed to the 244 beds at the McPherson Unit on the condition that the board be informed about where those new inmates were being transferred from. The board chose not to vote on the additional 124 beds at the Tucker Unit in Jefferson County.
Noticing that Profiri was taking orders directly from the governor based on Act 185, board members realized they faced the likelihood of litigation, so they voted to hire Little Rock attorney Abtin Mehdizadegan as outside counsel at the end of the Dec. 8 meeting.
Sanders announced after the meeting that Profiri would add those beds to the Tucker facility without the board’s approval, and she criticized the board.
On Dec. 14, the board voted 3-2 to suspend Profiri with pay. That same day, the board filed its lawsuit against Profiri, Sanders and the Department of Corrections.
Meanwhile, Griffin filed a separate lawsuit against the board, alleging that it violated state law when it hired outside counsel.
The next hearing in that lawsuit is scheduled for Jan. 22 in Pulaski County Circuit Court.
