Yavapai County reviews jail costs and recidivism
The Yavapai Board of Supervisors tackled several issues with regards to county jails during its June 3 meeting including finalizing language to send a jail tax to voters and establishing a fund for coordinated reentry services for inmates.
District 5 Supervisor Mary Mallory [R] was absent.
“Each year, we work with the legislators at the state to fund reentry for five counties, Yavapai being one of them, through a state appropriation last year in the ’25-’26 Arizona state budget, they appropriated $10 million to be shared by five counties,” Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Jeff Newnum said.
The funds come from opioid settlement claims and were appropriated by Senate Bill 1735. $2 million goes to Yavapai County, which will be used to fund its reentry planning services, which is the county’s Reach Out initiative.
“What’s important for us to remember as we’re able to combat those recidivism numbers, it lowers our jail population significantly,” Newnum said. “In 2015 when I was a jail commander, we had an average daily population of 647 inmates. We are down today to 435 inmates. That lowers our liability.”
Reach Out’s four components are: Screening every inmate within 36 hours of entering a county facility; identifying treatment options based on individual needs; linking each inmate to needed services; and reintegrating individuals through treatment and family support models.
“I just want to note that I believe recidivism is down from 50% down to 18%,” District 3 Supervisor Nikki Check [D] said before the board unanimously approved the fund. “Now, that’s really remarkable, and I really applaud all of the different ways that you guys are achieving those results.”
Jail Tax
In its capacity as the board of directors for the Yavapai County Jail District, the supervisors approved the ballot language for voters in the Tuesday, Nov. 3, general election to weigh in on if they will approve increasing the quarter cent up to half a cent.
The board’s stated intent is to shift some of the burden onto tourists and lower property taxes.
“The existing ¼ cent Jail District sales tax is not sufficient to pay the costs of the Jail District. The estimated future revenue needs for the Jail District are $41.44 million per year and will likely increase over time due to inflation and population growth,” the ballot language reads. “The county will be required to contribute $8.88 million next year to the Jail District from the County General Fund as legally required ‘maintenance of effort,’ and will need to contribute an additional $16.15 million from the county General Fund to pay the costs of the Jail District.”
Yavapai County voters have rejected previous attempts to raise the sales tax. If approved, the tax hike would go into effect on Thursday, July 1, 2027, and be in place for 20 years.
“I have no problem with this going to the ballot and looking back in history,” District 4 Supervisor Chris Kuknyo [R] said. “This went to the ballot twice before the voters said ‘no.’ We put it on property tax, so anything moving forward with this has to have some component where that property tax comes off or gets greatly reduced in order to go forward with the sales tax.”
Aramark Correctional Services Contract
As a consent item the board also approved a six-month contract for Aramark Correctional Services LLC to provide inmate commissary and banking services at Yavapai County Detention Centers.
A $1 million six-month extension with Aramark Correctional Services LLC as the inmate food service vendor was approved in order to give the county more time to find the best deal through its Request for Proposal process to provide food to inmates. However, the next contract itself could still go back to Aramark.
The county will pay the same rates per inmate meal under the extension that they currently are. In detention centers over 600 people the cost is $2.57 per meal, and $3.976 per meal for detention centers under 400 people.
“Everyone has to eat. I’d be happy to make a motion to approve action item number five,” Check said.
The board approved the salary for constables with the Prescott, Verde Valley and Mayer constables increased from $55,000 to $75,000 a year, and the Bagdad-Yarnell increased from $10,000 to $30,000, and the Seligman constable salary increased from $10,000 to $20,000.
The new pay will go into effect on Friday, Jan. 1, 2027, and will be in place until the end of 2030.
