Medical & Mental Health in Arkansas (ADC)
Arkansas's $3 medical co-pay and its exemptions, the private health-care contractor, how families can raise a health concern, and the fact that Arkansas has no independent ombudsman for adult prisons.
Health care and the co-pay
Medical, dental, and mental-health care inside ADC is delivered by a private contractor — Wellpath (formerly Correct Care Solutions), which has held the Arkansas contract for over a decade; the Board of Corrections approved a new long-term contract in 2024. The company went through a financial restructuring in 2024–2025, so the contractor’s situation has been in flux, though the rules are set by ADC.
An inmate pays a $3 co-pay for a self-initiated medical or dental visit (state law caps the co-pay at $5). A fee can also apply to initial care for fights, sports injuries, or self-inflicted injuries not associated with mental illness. The co-pay does not apply to:
- communicable-disease diagnosis and treatment,
- chronic-care visits,
- care a staff member orders, including follow-up and referral visits, and
- emergencies.
No inmate is denied medical service for inability to pay. For care, an inmate reports emergencies to a correctional officer and submits a Health Service Sick Call request for non-emergencies, reviewed within 24 hours.
Mental health and substance use
ADC provides outpatient mental-health treatment (individual and group), a Residential Programs Unit for inmates with serious mental or emotional problems, and a Habilitation Program for developmentally disabled inmates. It also lists substance-abuse and sex-offender treatment programs. ADC does not publish details of a medication-assisted treatment (MAT) program for opioid use disorder, so do not assume one is available — confirm with the unit.
Raising a health concern
Because of medical-privacy law, ADC will discuss an inmate’s health only with someone the inmate has named on a signed Release of Information form. An authorized contact can reach the unit infirmary or the Health Services Administrator’s Office at (870) 267-6892. There is no statewide family medical-complaint portal. Concerns about sexual abuse or safety (PREA) can be reported by anyone, including family, on the PREA report line, 1-870-267-6533.
Grievances and oversight
ADC has an inmate grievance process: an informal step (the “Problem Solver”), then a formal grievance at the unit level, then an appeal to a deputy or assistant director within a few working days — confirm the current time limits with the unit. Arkansas has no independent ombudsman for adult prisons; oversight runs through the Board of Corrections, a governance body rather than an independent complaint investigator. (A separate juvenile ombudsman covers the juvenile system only.) Calls for an independent adult-corrections oversight office were active in 2025–2026 but none had been created.
Outside help
Family-support and advocacy organizations active in Arkansas include decARcerate Arkansas, Arkansas CURE, and Compassion Works for All. These are independent of ADC.
Verify Before Acting
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.