Editor’s note: This story has been updated with death statistics for previous years at state prisons.
(The Center Square) — State Sen. Kevin Payne, R-Peoria, told The Center Square he was not impressed by the letter he received from the Arizona prison system about safety concerns after a series of inmate homicides.
He called the department’s response “not all that good.”
Last week, the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry responded to a letter Payne sent the department on June 4. The state senator inquired about the conditions at ADCRR correctional facilities. During fiscal year 2025, 10 homicides have occurred. This number would increase to 11 if inmate Indalecio Garcia’s death is proven to be a homicide.
That’s up significantly from previous years. The average for the last four years has been two homicides a year in state prisons, according to the Arizona State Senate Republican Caucus.
In its letter, ADCRR responded to 12 questions that Payne sent to the department. For six of these questions, ADCRR said Payne’s request was being sent to the corrections department’s public records team.
The senator said he thinks the department did that because he requested a lot of information. However, he noted ADCRR could have sent the public records requests sooner. Payne said he thinks the department waited until June 25, the deadline given by the state senator for the department to respond to his letter.
In addition to answering questions from Payne, ADCRR Director Ryan Thornell said his department is underfunded and correctional guards are underpaid. Payne said he agreed with Thornell.
The senator said the correctional guards whom he has spoken with told him that they feel “underpaid and overworked.”
Over the last three years, Arizona has given correctional guards a raise, but there are still concerns about them being underpaid.
Compared to Arizona, the states surrounding it pay their correctional guards more, according to Payne. ZipRecruiter says Arizona ranks last in the United States in terms of paying correctional guards.
Payne told The Center Square he tried to give correctional guards another raise in the Arizona budget this year, but instead, the guards will get a bonus.
Despite being disappointed in how the ADCRR responded to his letter, the senator noted the department did provide some information to him that he can use to address concerns about prisons.
Payne cited information regarding Medication-Assisted Treatment. The letter describes MAT as an “evidence-based approach to the treatment of substance use disorder, utilizing medication in combination with counseling, behavioral therapies, and peer support for treatment.”
In August 2023, when the state began tracking MAT, 692 inmates were receiving this treatment. In May 2025, 6,820 inmates were participating in MAT.
Payne said correctional officers told him that inmates are not swallowing their medications in front of them, but instead they are “cheeking” them. The state senator said inmates who are doing this are either selling them to other inmates or saving up enough medication to get high from it.
Going forward, Payne said a Senate committee will continue to gather more information and analyze the data provided by the ADCRR to the committee. The state senator is the chairman of this ad hoc committee.
Payne said the ADCRR only answered a couple of questions, and the committee is still waiting on the data for the rest of the questions.
He said his patience is wearing thin. He said he might use subpoena power to get more information from ADCRR.
Payne said he is thinking of sending the ADCRR another follow-up letter in another week. However, before making this decision, he said he would need to review the information the department gave him.
The Center Square contacted ADCRR for an interview, but the corrections department said it would be a few weeks before an interview could be conducted.
