The Arkansas Board of Correction invoked the Emergency Powers Act on Tuesday, making up to 712 inmates eligible for early parole.

The action enables the prison board to move parole hearings up 90 days for nonviolent offenders because of overcrowding. A prison spokeswoman said 632 male prisoners and 80 women would be eligible.

Spokeswoman Dina Tyler said state prisons housed 12,704 inmates Tuesday — 11,944 men and 760 women — in units built to hold 12,178 inmates. Another 536 state prisoners were being housed in county jails because there was no room for them in the prison system, she said.