MCSO pledges overhaul amid inmate drug woes

More than 40 percent of Maricopa County inmates who were drug tested Thursday while in a work-furlough program tested positive for drugs.

As result of that and nearly a dozen overdoses by participants in the past year, Sheriff Paul Penzone is promising to overhaul the program.

The Maricopa County Adult Probation Department runs the work-furlough program, which allows inmates to leave jail for 12 hours a day to go to work.

The purpose, Penzone said, is to “reduce the probability of recidivism.”

But the drug-testing results are spurring questions.

There were 230 inmates in the program. Of those, 177 were tested. Seventy-two tested positive for drugs, five tested positive for alcohol and 11 refused to take the drug test, Penzone said.

All have since been removed from the program.

“A high number of these inmates tested positive for methamphetamines” and “many tested positive for opioids,” Penzone said.

Penzone said that since last July, 10 overdoses have occurred among workfurlough participants being held in the Durango Jail facility. Nine of those have occurred since January. He said officials administered Narcan, which counteracts opioid overdoses, eight times.

Two inmate deaths, one in May and one this month, may have resulted from those overdoses, but the Sheriff ’s Office is awaiting medical reports to confirm.

The Sheriff ’s Office and Adult Probation both play a role in determining which inmates are eligible for the workfurlough program, Sgt. Bryant Vanegas said. Participating inmates are housed at the Durango Jail.

“I will not tolerate nor will allow for us to have programs that jeopardize the safety for anyone involved,” Penzone said.