The Varner Unit is a high-security state

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

for men of the

Arkansas Department of Corrections The Arkansas Department of Corrections (DOC), formerly the Arkansas Department of Correction, is the state law enforcement agency that oversees inmates and operates state prisons within the U.S. state of Arkansas. DOC consists of two divisions, ...

in Varner, Choctaw Township, unincorporated Lincoln County,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is located along U.S. Highway 65,Varner Unit
"

Arkansas Department of Correction The Arkansas Department of Corrections (DOC), formerly the Arkansas Department of Correction, is the state law enforcement agency that oversees inmates and operates state prisons within the U.S. state of Arkansas. DOC consists of two divisions, ...

. Retrieved on July 18, 2010. "28 miles south of Pine Bluff off Highway 65 in Lincoln County." near Grady, and south of Pine Bluff. The prison can house over 1,600 prisoners, and it includes a 468-bed supermax (Super Maximum Security) facility.History of the Arkansas Department of Correction
The supermax and non-supermax facilities are separate from one another. The Varner Unit Supermax houses male inmates scheduled for execution in Arkansas, currently performed by

lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium) for the express purpose of causing death. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but t ...

. The actual executions take place at the nearby Cummins Unit. The female death row is located at the

McPherson Unit McPherson Unit is a Incarceration of women in the United States, prison for women of the Arkansas Department of Corrections, located in Newport, Arkansas, off Arkansas Highway 384, east of central Newport. Established in 1998, the prison houses ...

. Varner is one of the state of Arkansas's "parent units" for male prisoners; it serves as one of several units of initial assignment for processed male prisoners.

History

The Varner Unit was opened in 1987 with 300 beds, and its capacity was soon increased to 700 beds. Further construction has brought the total capacity to over 1,600 prisoners. The supermax units opened in 2000, and federal grants paid 90% of the construction costs. At one time the State of Arkansas housed all young male offenders in the state prison system in Varner. While this was the case, Correction Officers and prisoners nicknamed the facility the "

Gladiator A gladiator ( , ) was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their ...

School." On Friday August 22, 2003, all 39 Arkansas death row inmates were moved from the Maximum Security Unit to the Supermax at the Varner Unit. In 2011, a fight among prisoners and correctional officers led to injuries among correctional officers. During 2004/2005, ADC installed an

electric fence An electric fence is a barrier that uses electric shocks to deter humans and other animals from crossing a boundary. Most electric fences are used for agricultural purposes and other non-human animal control. They may also be used to protect hig ...

between two non-electric fences in the Varner Unit. It received testing in late December 2004 and was activated in January 2005. The system used inmate labor to assist with the construction of the fence.

Composition

The property is in Choctaw Township.

Operations

Varner houses a vegetable processing plant. The main campus of the Riverside Vocational Technical School is located behind the Varner Unit.

Prisoner life

Education

In 2011, a campus of the Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary was established in the prison.

Notable inmates

Current

* Zachary Holly: convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Jersey Bridgeman. * Randy Gay: convicted and sentenced to death for murdering someone while having two prior convictions for murder. * Karl Roberts: convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Andria Brewer. * Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad: perpetrator of the Little Rock recruiting office shooting. * Grant Hardin: convicted and sentenced for murder and rape, a former police chief of Gateway, Arkansas and former officer for three

Northwest Arkansas Northwest Arkansas (NWA) is a metropolitan area and region in Arkansas within the Ozarks. It includes four of the ten largest cities in the state: Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville, Springdale, Arkansas, Springdale, Rogers, Arkansas, Rogers, ...

area police departments. Hardin previously escaped North Central Unit prison on May 25, 2025 by disguising himself as a guard before being transferred.

Former

Death row: * Damien Echols:Echols , Damien
"

. Retrieved on November 25, 2010. member of the West Memphis Three (released on August 19, 2011). Non-death row * Jessie Misskelley:Miskelly Jr , Jessie L
"

. Retrieved on November 25, 2010. member of the West Memphis Three (released on August 19, 2011). * Jason Baldwin : member of the West Memphis Three (released on August 19, 2011).

References

External links

Varner Unit, Arkansas Department of Corrections

"Varner Unit"
entry from the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture {{coord, 34, 02, 32, N, 91, 36, 27, W, scale:10000, display=title Prisons in Arkansas Buildings and structures in Lincoln County, Arkansas Supermax prisons Capital punishment in Arkansas 1987 establishments in Arkansas Prisons completed in the 1980s