The Joint Ad Hoc Study Committee on Correctional Practices and Facility Safety is set to hold a public hearing concerning inmate deaths in Arizona’s prison system. The session will take place on Tuesday, August 26, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. in House Hearing Room 1 at the State Capitol in Phoenix. This committee is examining the policies of the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry (ADCRR) regarding inmate classification, facility safety, and institutional accountability.
The hearings aim to gather insights from former staff, experts, and stakeholders to assess whether current protocols effectively safeguard both staff and inmates. A significant point of discussion will be the increasing use of custody-level overrides, where maximum-custody inmates are reassigned to lower-security facilities despite having violent histories or posing known threats. The committee will scrutinize these overrides’ procedures and justifications and their impact on staff safety.
Committee Co-Chairs Representative Quang Nguyen (R-1), who has served since 2021 after succeeding Steve Pierce, and Senator Kevin Payne (R-27) have invited ADCRR Director Ryan Thornell to testify. The meeting is open to the public and will be available via livestream at https://www.azleg.gov/videoplayer/?clientID=6361162879&eventID=2025081002.
Other committee members include Representatives Laurin Hendrix (R-14), Neal Carter (R-15), Alma Hernandez (D-20), along with Senators Hildy Angius (R-30), Mitzi Epstein (D-12), and David Gowan (R-19).
Information from this article can be found here.
