Benton Unit

The Benton Unit is a work release facility for minimum-security male inmates that is located in Benton, Arkansas. It opened in 1974 and has a capacity of 325. Inmates at Benton can earn time credit on their sentence for working and good behavior.

Inmates housed at Benton are incarcerated due to technical violations of their parole or they are on pre-release status.

Prison Insights

Visiting Hours and Rules

Visitation at Benton Unit has the following schedule:

• Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 4:00 p.m.
• There is no visitation on holidays unless the holiday falls on a regular visitation day

All Class I inmates are permitted weekly Sunday visits for a maximum of four (4) or five (5) visits a month depending upon the number of Sundays.

An inmate may have up to four visitors during any one visit, including children. However, the spouse of an inmate and all children, regardless of the number may visit.

How To Get On The Approved Visit List

If you want to visit an inmate at Benton Unit, you must complete a visitation application and return it to the Benton Unit Visitation Clerk. Your incarcerated loved one is responsible for providing you with an application.

Once you submit your application, it is processed, reviewed, and either approved or denied by the Warden.

The screening process takes at least a week, and a criminal history check is done on all prospective visitors.

• Minor children younger than 18, are not allowed to visit unless they are accompanied by an approved adult visitor

• Visitors age 12 and older are required to provide state-issued photo identification for entry into Benton Unit.

• Approved visitors may not be listed on more than one inmate's visitation list unless the visitor is confirmed as an immediate family member of each inmate and approved by the Warden or Center Supervisor.

General Visit Rules

Visitors are allowed to bring in only the following items:

• clear plastic bag containing a small amount of cash for purchasing refreshments
• prescription medication in the visitor’s name and in original pharmacy container
• government issued identification
• baby bottles, baby diapers, and diaper wipes
• car keys
• jewelry (being worn)

Visitors’ clothing must be appropriate for the age and occasion, and they must wear undergarments.

No halter-tops, tank tops, hats, shorts, mini-skirts/dresses, see-through clothing, leggings, jeggings, or camouflage attire may be worn. Brief cut or otherwise provocative clothing will not be permitted. No sleeveless tops are allowed because shoulders must be covered at all times.

Children ten (10) years of age and under will be allowed to wear shorts of an appropriate length.

Metal on clothing items should be avoided due to delays in clearing security equipment when additional search procedures are required, including the removal of any items containing metal.

The introduction of contraband into a correctional facility is a crime in Arkansas. Any person or vehicle entering Benton unit can be searched for contraband.

Visitors in wheelchairs and those wearing wigs or religious headgear are also subject to search. If a wig or religious headgear is being worn, the visitor will be searched outside the presence of other visitors by an employee of the same gender.

Entrance will be denied if you are not willing to submit to a search. Visitors must also pass through a metal detector.

Benton Unit randomly drug tests visitors with an Ion Scanner. A positive scan can lead to a search of the visitor and their vehicle.

Visitors are not allowed to bring cameras, pagers, cellular phones, pocket knives, or food into the facility.

Any visitor unable to successfully clear all entrance procedures will be denied entry and may have their visitation privileges suspended.

Envelopes that do not meet these requirements are considered contraband.

All books, magazines, newspapers and catalogs must be mailed directly from the publisher, bookstore, educational institution, or recognized commercial or charitable outlet.

In order to reduce contraband being mailed into the Benton Unit, all inmate mail is photocopied. This means that inmates will receive two sheets of 8½ x 11 inches of copy paper, which will include a copy of the envelope and three pieces of the correspondence.

They only make black and white copies, and no cards, larger size paper, or anything else will be manipulated to fit on the copy paper. Any correspondence that exceeds these limits is considered contraband, and the inmate will have thirty (30) days to pay for return postage or it will be destroyed.

Please write all letters in dark ink only (black or blue ink). If you use pencils or yellow markers it will reduce image quality.

No food or care packages may be mailed to an inmate. However, there is the Inmate Package Program where you can buy a food package for your friend or loved one. During the program period, an inmate can receive up to $100 of goods through participating vendors.

Click on one of these links for a package vendor.

• www.ARInmatePackage.com
• www.arkansaspackages.com

How to Call an Inmate

Inmates at the Benton Unit do have access to phones during approved hours. However, they can only make collect or prepaid calls to pre-approved numbers. 

You can prepay for calls online or by mail. You can set up an account on the Arkansas Department of Corrections website or you can prepay for calls by mail via money order with this form.

Inmates are not allowed to have cell phones. They are contraband, and if an inmate is caught with one they will be punished. If you attempt to provide an inmate with a cellular phone or other electronic communication device - and you get caught - you will be charged with a felony.

If you need to relay an urgent message to an inmate, you must notify the chaplain or mental health office about the emergency and they will deliver the message to the inmate. For complete details on how to call an inmate in Arkansas, please click here.

How to Send Money

MAIL

You can send a money order through the mail to put money on an inmate’s books. However, you can’t mail it directly to the inmate. You must send the money order to Inmate Banking at this address:

Arkansas Department of Correction:
Trust Fund Centralized Banking
P.O. Box 8908
Pine Bluff, AR 71611

Money orders should be made payable to the inmate’s name and ADC number. A “MONEY ORDER DEPOSIT SLIP” must be completed and sent with each money order.

ONLINE

You can send money online through the ONLINE INMATE DEPOSIT SERVICE. You must have a credit or debit card and this method does involve a processing fee.

PHONE

Another option is to send money by phone at 1-866-250-7697.This method requires a credit or debit card and a small processing fee.

​Programs For ​Inmates

• GED Program

GED classes are offered at Benton Unit and the Board of Correction mandates attendance for all inmates without a GED or high school diploma unless they are unable to participate due to health reasons.

• Job Placement

Welding, Painting, Shipping and Receiving, Mechanics, Hydraulics, Cooking, Equipment Operation, Automobile Repair; Regional Maintenance

• Work Release

Participants learn technical and work skills that are transferable to outside labor markets. These job assignments instill both work/employment skills, as well as, work ethics.

Work release jobs are available in Construction, Boiler operation, Electrical, plumbing, heating and air, Computer operation, Wastewater treatment, Laundry, Food services, Building maintenance, Clerical, and Landscaping and Groundskeeping

Pictures of Benton Unit

Careers at Benton Unit

If you are interested in pursuing a career with the Arkansas Department of Corrections, you can find available positions at the Benton Unit by visiting their website.