Pulaski County judge returns $60,000 check to production company behind ‘Unlocked’ Netflix show
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – County officials are sending back a check from the production company behind a Netflix series set in the Pulaski County Regional Detention Facility.
County Judge Barry Hyde returned a $60,000 check to Lucky 8 TV, LLC. According to county records, the check was received March 27 as an apparent reimbursement for being allowed to film the Netflix docuseries “Unlocked: A Jail Experiment,” which took place inside the county detention center in 2021 and 2022.
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According to an April 9 letter addressed to the production company on Pulaski County letterhead and signed by Hyde, the check was submitted to the county comptroller by Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office Major T. Rose on March 28 inside a bundle of documents.
The letter outlines the contents of the bundle, which included a FedEx envelope, shipping label & tracking document, a memo from the Pulaski County Detention Facility and the $60,000 check made out to the Pulaski County government. The letter noted that the word “Reimbursement” was in the attached payment invoice’s description.
Hyde wrote in the letter sent with he returned check that since Pulaski County has no record of an authorized expense that would warrant a reimbursement, the check must be treated as an offered donation.
“Your donation is refused,” he then stated, adding that the check was enclosed with the letter and returned.
The docuseries has been at the center of a controversy between the county government and Pulaski County Sheriff Eric Higgins.
Higgins gave Lucky 8 permission to film inside the detention center during an ongoing experimental program on self-government between inmates in a cell block. When news of the series first came to light in March, Higgins said he did not sign a contract with the production company.
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The county quorum court sent Higgens a list of 40 questions about the production and related matters and is reviewing the sheriff’s response. The court’s investigation is ongoing.
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