Pima County sheriff says jail conditions are in 'full-blown crisis'

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos pleaded for help from the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to improve conditions at the county jail he said is in “full-blown crisis” amid a growing inmate population, a decreasing number of corrections officers and deteriorating conditions at the facility.

The board is set to consider solutions for conditions at the jail after County Administrator Jan Lesher comes back with a cost analysis and recommendations in January.

The sheriff asked the board for short-term relief in the form of a 7.5% salary increase for corrections staff at an annual cost of about $1.8 million to take effect in January. The board is set to vote on the proposal at its Dec. 20 meeting.

In the long term, Nanos asked for a half-cent “jail tax” that would fund “competent staff, build a new correctional facility (and) relieve other Pima County law enforcement agencies from millions of dollars for inmate housing costs.”

“I believe we must brace for more of what is already stressing our correctional capability to a breaking point,” the sheriff wrote in a letter to the board. “We have a resilient community, but without our guardianship and good governance, the escalating crime and social problems have the potential to do irreparable harm.”

Nanos said the population at the jail has increased by about 45% since the relatively low number of inmates it saw during the onset of COVID-19. Inversely, the number of corrections officers charged with keeping order at the detention center has decreased by 30%.

The sheriff said the jail’s “operational capability has degraded from that of a critical state to a full-blown crisis.” The jail is running at 92% capacity, he said, a number far above the operational ideal of 85% capacity. The over-population is causing about 100 inmates to sleep on cots on the floor, while more than 650 inmates have been waiting more than 120 days for a trial, according to the sheriff.

Nanos said he’s heard of staff falling asleep on the job and frequently working 16-hour shifts. He said the lack of sleep leads to mistakes, pointing to the erroneous release of an inmate on Nov. 21 when corrections officers mistook an inmate for another inmate who was being released. That inmate has been located and returned to jail.

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Two weeks ago, Nanos said, corrections officers “faced a very dangerous situation” when 90 inmates refused to lockdown in their cells until an hour-long negotiation deescalated the situation. On Dec. 1, an inmate choked a corrections officer who was rendered unconscious for 24 minutes until medical personnel revived her, according to the sheriff.

Nanos also described deteriorating infrastructure at the jail he called “unlivable for our inmates” and “a horrific work environment” that includes mold, frequent flooding and crumbling concrete.

Lesher said she will look at a “cost benefit analysis” on new construction versus maintenance repairs that can take place at the jail immediately. A half-cent sales tax to fund jail improvements, however, would likely have to go to the county’s voters for approval.

In addition to the low staffing and structural issues at the detention center, the Pima County jail has reported nine deaths this year, with at least five of the deaths ruled the result of fentanyl intoxication, according to the Pima County Medical Examiner’s office. Last year, the jail reported 10 deaths that marked a decade-high number of annual deaths at the facility.

On Nov. 8, the family of 18-year-old Sylvestre Inzunza sued the county over conditions at the jail, including inadequate staffing, that they alleged led to Inzunza’s death on Feb. 2.

Nanos admitted in his letter to the board that “Completing timely rounds is nearly impossible and the sad consequence is increased risk of suicide attempts, inmate violence, and an increase in drug abuse.”