PHOENIX — Death totals in custody and overdose deaths in Maricopa County jails increased during Sheriff Jerry Sheridan’s first year in office, a trend he attributes to the rise in fentanyl deaths across the state.
In 2025, 39 inmates died in Maricopa County Sheriff's Office custody. That total is a dozen more than in 2024, with the majority of the deaths in 2025 resulting from overdoses.
"Those inmates in custody are my responsibility ultimately, and so I take every death, every illness, every incident in those jails very personally," Sheridan said. "I'm not denying, and I never have, that there are drugs in the jail system and that's just the way it is in every jail and in every prison in this country. I wish it wasn’t.”
The sheriff noted that the type of drugs entering the facilities is evolving, making it harder to stay ahead of the drugs.
"Fentanyl powder these days is becoming more popular than the pills because it's easier to conceal and it's easier to transport," Sheridan said.
The growing problem was highlighted in February when 12 inmates overdosed at the Estrella Jail, resulting in one death.
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To combat the issue, jail searches have increased in frequency, and the size of the sheriff’s jail intelligence unit has expanded. The sheriff also increased the number of drug-detecting dogs working in the jails to six. Last year, one of those dogs had to be treated with Narcan after finding fentanyl. Sheridan has also added X-ray machines for enhanced scanning of inmates.
"The vast majority of drugs come in through the body cavities from people off the street," Sheridan said.
However, jail employees are not scanned on their way into work. Sheridan made the change to remove employee scanners early in his term, a decision that families of jail overdose victims and inmate advocates have pushed back against.
When asked about the removal of employee scanners amid the increase in drug deaths, Sheridan defended his staff.
"So you know I've been with the sheriff's office for over 40 years, OK, and I know of only 2 incidents in those 40 years where a detention officer has brought drugs into the jail facilities, and they were both arrested and imprisoned, so it's not the employees," Sheridan said. "Now that may not be true for other institutions, prisons across the country, or whatever. I don't know. I'm not arguing about that. What I'm arguing is about the Sheriff's Office employees. We hire the best people, we train them well, and they go through a thorough background investigation, and their integrity is not a question unless they give us a reason to," Sheridan said.
Despite his trust in the staff, the sheriff's office is currently 700 detention officers short, creating an uphill battle to bring down overdoses. Sheridan believes the increase in jail drug deaths can be explained by the broader trends across Arizona.
"It's one of the very few states where drug deaths have gone up, and I feel strongly that the drug-related deaths in the jail have gone up pretty close to that same percentage. So that's what we're fighting," Sheridan said.
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