Blank map subdivisions 2019 Albers Arizona

Arizona Deaths Behind Bars - Sources

  • UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project – This project collects and analyzes public information about carceral mortality  in prisons, jails, youth facilities, and immigration detention centers across the United States. The project’s centralized source of data enables greater oversight of and accountability for carceral institutions.   This project, started in March 2020, initially focused on the impact of COVID behind bars and February 2023 announced a new phase for the project expanding the scope to deaths from all causes.  Arizona specific data is available here.
  • “What to know about the ‘astronomical’ death rate in Maricopa County jails” by Jimmy Jenkins – An investigation by The Arizona Republic’s Jimmy Jenkins found that from 2019 to 2023, Arizona’s Maricopa County jail system had one of the highest death rates in the country. In 2019, 11 people died in Maricopa County’s five jails. In 2022, 43 people are known to have died in the Maricopa County jail system. Forty-three people died in the jails in 2023.