If you haven’t seen Chad Day’s story in this morning’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, it’s worth a look. The headline reads: “Search on at youth lockup for runaway.”

A 17-year-old boy who ran away from guards at the state’s largest youth lockup near Alexander on Saturday was still missing Monday, but Arkansas Youth Services Division officials said they believe he was not able to escape beyond the fence that encircles the 108-acre campus.

The boy, Brandon Price, was in the recreation room at the Arkansas Juvenile Assessment and Treatment Center with a group of about a dozen youths when he ran out a door with another boy, said Amy Webb, spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Human Services, which oversees the Youth Services Division.

But we really should be asking the question: Why is a 5 ft., 5 inch, 110 pound non-violent misdemeanor offender being held at the G4S youth prison in the first place?  Arkansas is spending large sums of money (up to $90,000 a year per bed) to lock non-violent misdemeanor offenders who achieve better outcomes served in community based alternatives at one tenth of the cost. Seventy five percent of youth committed to DYS are at low or moderate risk of re-offending. Let’s get smart on crime in Arkansas.