Jails

• Most secure facility in County jail system, housing the highest security inmates inside a uniquely designed Special Management Unit.
• The Basement Level is comprised of Inmate Programs, Chaplain, and Inmate Legal Services staff.
• Fourth Avenue Jail has one Main Medical Clinic on the Basement level and a Mini Medical Clinic on levels 2, 3, and 4.
• Medical has offices that consist of Dental, X-Ray, Pharmacy and Psychiatric staff.
• Each housing pod has two classrooms, four video visitation booths, attorney room, a dayroom and recreation yard, limiting the amount of inmate movement required.
• Level 4 consists of three separate designs for increasing levels of security.

• Facility design is comprised of six separate housing units. Each housing unit has four pods and each pod houses up to 30 inmates.
• Lowest population capacity jail facility in the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Jail system.
• A majority of the inmates housed at Towers Jail are un-sentenced, pre-trial detainees.
• Is the oldest operating jail facility in the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.

Watkins Jail

• he Watkins Jail is a state-of-the-art facility designed and operated on the system of strategic inmate management using the principles of “Direct Supervision”.
• These principles focus on the assumption most inmates in the jail system want to comply with rules and regulations by staff utilizing positive reinforcement, communication, accountability, and mutual respect. By providing an environment utilizing effective supervision and incentives, most inmates can and will comply with jail rules and procedures.
• Through design and operational guidelines, control of the facility is maintained by detention staff, improving the safety and security of staff, inmates, and the community.
• The offices workstation is in the middle of the housing unit, without walls or barriers to impede direct communication/interaction with an inmate living there.
• The Watkins Jail also offers programs such as Choose to Change, and MOSAIC, designed to encourage positive behavior and to help them to make better life choices and end the cycle of reoffending.

• The jail is composed of five tower housing units and ten dormitories.
• Most of the sentenced female inmates participate in work assignments that assist with jail operations and skill building.
• The Programs at Estrella include: Choose to Change, Mosaic, and Girl Scouts Beyond Bars.
• Estrella Jail staff works in conjunction with Correctional Health Services, Maricopa County Human Services Department, and the MCSO Custody Support Division to provide inmate programming that aligns with the goals of the Maricopa County Smart Justice Program.

• Largest detention facility in the State of Arizona.
• Two styles of inmate living areas - 1) Four Dormitories, direct supervision style housing units, each containing 102 beds and a recreation area. 2) Twelve Podular Remote style housing units, each with 71 two-man cells divided into two housing pods, each pod with its own recreation area.
• Adjacent to each housing pod is an outdoor recreation area and two classrooms which are used to facilitate programs and classes.
• Each level also has a chapel and a medical clinic.
• Includes a 60 Bed Medical Infirmary and a 255 Bed Mental Health Unit. Each houses all classifications of inmates. These two areas are managed by the Inmate Medical Services Division.
• The jail has negative airflow rooms for control of infectious diseases, Americans with Disability Act (ADA) compliant rooms for disabled or physically challenged inmates, and four bed wards for general population housing.
• 800+ surveillance cameras, 2,000+ doors/locks and 11 elevators.
• Houses the Working Inmate Population for all MCSO Jail facilities. This classification of inmate is assigned jobs that are critical in the everyday function of our Jail Facilities. Everything from the Inmate Laundry to our Food Services Division. By working these assigned jobs, the inmate can earn a reduced sentence and help prepare them for reentry into our communities.
• The Jail houses and operates a fully accredited high school for our Juvenile offenders.

• The facility replaced the Central Intake processing center that was located at the 4th Avenue Jail in downtown Phoenix.
• The ITR design will allow for a more efficient intake and booking process.
• The ITR has four completely functional courtrooms.
• The ITR will process all “self-surrender” detainees who are complying with a court order to surrender themselves and serve a jail sentence.
• The ITR will process all releases from custody of the Maricopa County Jail system.
• The ITR will process approximately 100,000 bookings and 90,000 releases each year.
• The ITR has an attached short term 512 bed facility. Inmates will have access to any medical or mental health needs and county staff can better treat these individuals all while connecting them to any community resources they may need.
• The ITR has a “Transportation Hub” for the coordinated movement of defendants into/out of custody throughout the Sherriff’s Office system of 5 jails.

• The facility replaced the Central Intake processing center that was located at the 4th Avenue Jail in downtown Phoenix.
• Designed for short-term stay (72 hours or less, but up to 5 days)
• Acts as buffer between ITR and other facilities, minimizing transport of detainees
• Operates under Strategic Inmate Management model, which utilizes direct supervision of detainees as well as better management of inmate behavior. This shift focuses on the assumption most inmates in the jail system will comply with rules and regulations by staff utilizing positive reinforcement, communication, accountability, and mutual respect.
  Incorporates a system of inmate orientation, emphasizing expectations of appropriate inmate behavior and consequences for not meeting them.
  • Detention Officers are the sole authority in the housing units they supervise and are to remain in their assigned unit throughout the shift, maintaining the maximum level of supervision and presence.
  • Officers interact continuously with inmates to become familiar with the risks they present, their needs, and their behavior patterns.
  • Officers manage inmate behavior through positive motivational techniques and by holding inmates accountable.
  • Contributes to a safe, secure, and clean jail environment while providing an opportunity to positively engage the inmate population in activities.
• Ultimately, this facility helps support efforts to reduce recidivism by minimizing stressors or movement between facilities, time incarcerated, and creating a cleaner, safer environment.
• Enables the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office to quickly provide housing to inmates going through the intake booking process at ITR.
• Each housing unit is equipped with a medical exam room. This allows most medical services to be completed from within the housing unit.

Comprised of two sections: The Transportation Division, which includes the specialized unit In-State Extraditions Unit, and the Jail Wagon Unit. These Divisions provide a variety of services including:

• Transportation of prisoners and inmates between jails, courts, and nearly 60 locations throughout Arizona.
• In-State Extraditions unit coordinates with State and Federal agencies to transport inmates to serve prison sentences, or who have active warrants to court appointments in Maricopa County.
• The Jail Wagon meets in the field with MCSO Deputies and Officers of the AZ Department of Public Safety, receives/ transports arrestees and processes their booking into custody. This allows the Troopers and Deputies to return to patrol duties more quickly.

• The Transportation Division fleet consists of:
  • Six Blue Bird buses – (ranging in model year from 2009-2015) each with an average of 100,000 miles driven.
  • Three box style trucks.
  • Eight passenger vans.
  • The Jail Wagon unit has an additional five passenger vans.
• In 2019, approximately 302,138 prisoners’ movements and inmates throughout the state.
  • Drove over 394,223 miles.
• In 2019, the Jail Wagon transported approximately 7,223 detainees.
  • Drove approximately 219,580 miles.