In fiscal year 2016/2017 Pima County allocated 27.7% of its $1.2 billion budget to the criminal justice system. This means that 1 out of every 3 of our tax dollars will go toward paying for police, prosecutors, judges, defense attorneys, and detaining people in the Pima County Jail.
The skyrocketing costs of maintaining mass incarceration in our community are not new; they have been steadily increasing for a very long time.
This fiscal year the Pima County Sheriff’s Department will spend more than $50 million of its $158 million budget on running the Pima County Jail. The Pima County Attorney will spend almost $41.1 million on its criminal and civil divisions.
The entire Pima County budget for fiscal year 2016/2017 is available here.
