Photo by THV's Steve Payne
SALINE COUNTY, Ark. (KTHV) -- They try to hide the bruises. Make up excuses for the broken bones and cuts. But the signs of abuse cannot be hidden forever -- and there's new help in a place you might not expect.
The Saline County Sheriff's Department is partnering with Women and Children First to help inmates who suffer domestic violence. The sheriff polled female inmates and discovered 40-percent are victims.
This new program will teach them how to get out of it. Lt. Don Birdsong explains the sheriff's main goal.
"He wants to keep trying to set up programs that will help these people rather than just have them sitting back there and really have a wasted life. We're trying to give them something that might help them when they get out."
The program started Tuesday and classes will be held twice a month.