Maximum, medium, and minimum custody (men) · Correctional Unit (prison farm) · ADC

Cummins Unit

Grady, Lincoln County, Arkansas

Visiting schedules change without notice. Always call before traveling.

Call Visiting Office: (870) 850-8899 Info last verified: June 2026

A large men's prison farm in rural Lincoln County, south of Pine Bluff. Cummins holds men at all custody levels, runs the state's largest agricultural operation, and houses Arkansas's execution chamber.

Statewide rules that apply at every Arkansas state prison

These rules are set by ADC and apply at every unit. The full list — including all permitted and prohibited items and the approval process — is in Visiting in Arkansas.

Dress code

No white or camouflage clothing — both resemble what inmates wear (Arkansas inmates wear white).
Shoulders must stay covered: no sleeveless shirts, tank tops, or halter tops, and no shorts, miniskirts, or short dresses.
No see-through clothing, leggings, or jeggings, and nothing low-cut or otherwise provocative; children 10 and under may wear shorts of an appropriate length.
Avoid metal in clothing and accessories (underwire, buckles, snaps), which can stop you from clearing the metal detector; the authoritative dress code is printed on the back of the visitation form.

ID: Every visitor must be approved on the inmate's visiting list first — the inmate mails the application form to the visitor (it is not available online or from staff), and a criminal-history check is run on each applicant. Visitors 12 and older must show a government-issued photo ID.
What to bring: Bring a clear plastic bag with a small amount of cash for the vending machines (some units are moving to coins or debit and credit cards only), prescription medication in the visitor's name, a photo ID, car keys, and baby items. Phones, tobacco, and other items must stay locked in the vehicle.
Scheduling: Visits are pre-scheduled, not walk-in — request an appointment through the state TeleGov portal or by calling the unit's Visitation Clerk. Routine visits are on weekends, and how many visits a month a person gets depends on the inmate's class level; ADC does not post per-unit hours online, so confirm with the unit.

Full statewide rules: Visiting in Arkansas

Overview

The Cummins Unit, in rural Lincoln County south of Pine Bluff, is one of Arkansas’s largest prisons and the system’s principal prison farm, running the largest agricultural operation in the ADC across roughly 16,500 acres. ADC classifies Cummins as holding maximum, medium, and minimum custody men on one site. As of a May 2024 audit, it held about 2,000 men, above its rated capacity of about 1,880.

Cummins houses Arkansas’s execution chamber, where the state carries out executions. Male death row is housed separately, at the Varner Supermax Unit; Cummins is a long-term assignment unit, not the men’s reception center (men are processed into the system at the Ouachita River Unit first).

What Makes Cummins Different

It is a working prison farm, the largest agricultural operation in the Arkansas system.
It holds all three custody levels — maximum, medium, and minimum — on one site.
It houses the state’s execution chamber. This is the execution facility; the men under a death sentence are held at the Varner Supermax Unit and moved here only for an execution.
It is rural and remote, about 28 miles south of Pine Bluff, with no public transit.

Visiting

The statewide ADC rules above — the approved visitor list, the no-white dress code, ID, and pre-scheduled visits — apply at Cummins. The facility’s own arrangements:

The full approval process is in Visiting in Arkansas.

Getting There and Parking

The unit is off U.S. Highway 65 in Lincoln County, between the towns of Grady and Gould.

Distances are approximate, based on map routing. Visitor parking is on site.

Nearby Services

Pine Bluff, about 28 miles north, has the nearest cluster of hotels, restaurants, and services. The nearest hospital emergency room is Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Pine Bluff, the closest 24-hour ER to the unit.

Mail

Personal mail does not go to the unit. Since September 2025, ADC routes non-legal personal letters and photos to an off-site scanning center in Tampa, Florida, addressed with the person’s name and ADC number; the person receives the mail electronically. Legal mail, books, and magazines still go directly to the unit at the Grady address. Full addressing details are in Mail & Packages.

A Note on History

Cummins opened as a state prison farm in 1902. Conditions there were central to the landmark 1970 federal case Holt v. Sarver, in which a court found Arkansas’s prison conditions unconstitutional, and to the 1960s events that inspired the 1980 film Brubaker. These are documented in the sources cited above.

Learn More

For detailed information about visiting and communicating with someone at an Arkansas state prison:

Visiting in Arkansas — the approved list, dress code, and scheduling
Mail & Packages — the Tampa scanning address and what still goes to the unit
Phone & Video Calls — Securus calls, messaging, and video
Sending Money — CorrectPay, Access Corrections, and the trust account
Medical & Mental Health — the co-pay and how to raise a concern
Transfers & Finding Someone — reception units and the inmate search

Sources

This page is compiled from the following publicly available sources. Policies change without notice — confirm current details with the facility before relying on them.