Arizona State Prison Complex - Tucson

Arizona State Prison Complex - Tucson, or ASPC Tucson, is located in Tucson, Arizona, and it houses an inmate capacity of approximately 4,358 in 7 housing units and 3 special housing units at security levels 2, 3, 4, and 5. The seven housing units of this facility are Cimarron, Catalina, Manzanita, Minors, Santa Rita, Whetstone, and Winchester.

ASPC Tucson started out as the Arizona Correctional Training Facility. The first part of the facility opened for operation in January 1978, and by August 1979 it was fully operational, housing 384 non-violent male first time offenders, aged 18–25.

Prison Insights

Visiting Hours and Rules

Visitation Registration Hours
MONDAY – FRIDAY (NON-CONTACT & SPECIAL VISITS): By appointment only

SATURDAY, SUNDAY & HOLIDAY VISITATION:
A.M. Block:      07:05 – 10:30
(No one will be let in between 10:30 and 11:30 for inmate count)

P.M. Block:  11:05 – 2:30
(No one will be let in after 2:30 hours)

Attention Visitors: No inmates will be called up to visitation between 10:30 am and 12:00 pm. Please make arrangements to be in visitation no later than 10:15 to allow our staff the time to call them up to visitation.

ESTABLISHED BLOCK TIMES ARE AS FOLLOWS:

• 08:00 - 12:00
• 12:00 - 16:00

Special Contraband Notice from the Arizona Department of Corrections

The Arizona Department of Corrections wants your visitation experience to be safe and they are taking steps to ensure contraband is not introduced to the prison.

To allow you to help make the prison and your inmate family member safer, they have established an Information Hotline that you may use to report inappropriate conduct, contraband observations, extortion attempts or any other concerns about misconduct. You may report this anonymously if desired:

Contraband Hotline Phone Tips: (520) 574-0024 ext. 36666

(After hours, you may leave a message and it will be handled immediately the next business day or if after hours and urgent, please contact the number below)

After Hours Urgent Contraband Hotline: (520) 574-0024 ext. 36095

The following changes were made to the visitation procedure which to assist with this objective:

• Visitors may be subject to clear the magneto poles in addition to clearing the walk-through metal detectors. Should a visitor not clear, they will return to their car and shall be prohibited from visiting for that day, unless the visitor is found with contraband.
  • Adult visitors who cannot be cleared by the metal detector/magneto poles for some reason shall be asked if they will submit to a pat search.
• Visitors found with contraband (i.e. cell phones or illegal drugs) can be charged by the County Attorney's Office through the Complex CIU office.
• Minor visitors will not be pat searched. If a minor cannot clear the metal detector/magneto pole then they and their family members may be cleared for non-contact visitation; subject to availability.
• Visitation seating may be assigned to ensure closer monitoring of a visit by staff.

For questions or clarification please contact Complex Visitation: (520) 574-0024 ext. 36091

How To Get On The Approved Visit List

When an inmate first arrives at Arizona State Prison Complex-Tucson, those who want to have visits must submit a Visitation List. Inmates can have a maximum of 20 approved visitors on their list.

Anyone wishing to visit and/or receive telephone calls from an inmate must complete and submit the Application to Visit an Inmate. You can fill out this form online or have your loved one mail the form to you.

You must also pay a one-time $25 fee for a background check. This payment can be made online or mailed in via money order with a paper application. If this fee is not paid, the visitor application will not be processed and you can’t visit an inmate.

If you choose to to fill out a paper application, you must mail it directly to the visitation office in the unit your loved one is housed in. DO NOT MAIL IT TO THE INMATE.

Visiting Rules

Visitors are permitted to bring the following items to a visit:

• Photo ID
• Prescription medication
• One unopened package of cigarettes and/or one e-cigarette - Smoking may be prohibited in some visitation areas.
• Money - Coins totaling a maximum of $40.00 per visitor.
• Jewelry - One wedding/engagement ring, one religious medallion, one wristwatch and one pair of earrings or two observable body piercings. You must wear all items brought into visitation throughout the visit.
• Keys - Two vehicle keys or one key and a vehicle remote control entry device.
• One handheld baby carrier, per infant - The carrier shall be subjected to a thorough search prior to entry. Strollers or carriers with wheels shall not be permitted.
• One clear plastic diaper bag, per infant – The diaper bag shall be subjected to a thorough search prior to entry. A diaper bag may contain only the following items:
  • Baby bottle - Three clear-plastic baby bottles of milk/formula or equivalent size unopened, commercially sealed containers of juice.
  • Baby food - Four small clear plastic containers (such as, Tupperware container) of soft food or baby food.
  • Diaper - One diaper for each hour of visitation.
  • Sani-wipes - One clear container or Ziploc bag of baby sani-wipes.
  • Blanket - One blanket, measuring no larger than 4' by 4'. The blanket cannot be tan in color.
  • Spoon - One small plastic spoon used to feed an infant.
  • Pacifier - One baby pacifier.
  • Clothing - One change of baby clothing.
  • Bib - One baby bib.
  • Diaper rash medication - One small tube of diaper rash medication.

With the exception of food brought in for food visits, cigarettes, and disposable baby items (diapers, wipes), each visitor must leave the visitation area with the exact property items possessed at the time the visitor was processed to visit.

All clothing that you wear to a visit must be clean, non-offensive, and within the bounds of common decency.

Please remember to put the inmates name and register number on all mail correspondence. You must also put your name and return address on the envelope.

How to Call an Inmate

Prisoners at Arizona State Prison Complex - Tucson do have access to telephones, but you can’t call them directly. If you wish to talk to an inmate on the phone, they must call you, but you have to fill out an application first. For complete details on how to call an inmate in Arizona, please click here.

How to Send Money

You can put money on an inmate’s account by going online, making a phone call, or by visiting the lobby of USPC-Tucson and using the kiosk.  There are three companies that process inmate funds in Arizona:

• JPAY
• Access Corrections
• GTL

Please click on one of the links above to open an account. This will allow you to start sending money to your loved one right away.

Please be aware, there is a fee charged for each transaction, and to find the fee breakdown for each company, click here.

Inmates can spend money on phone calls and commissary.  The commissary (or canteen) is the prison store, where inmates can buy a variety of items like food and beverages, OTC medications, stationary, stamps, hygiene items, clothing, and electronics.

​Programs For ​Inmates

As part of an Intergovernmental Agreement, ASPC-Tucson has approximately 28 inmate off complex work crews. There are also; two onsite call centers for hometown heroes that employ 78 inmates; Arizona Department of Transportation work crews that conduct off-site trimming and cleaning debris from the medians and sides of roads, two wildland fire crews that also spend off season assisting with brush abatement and a work crew at the Kartchner Caverns State Park located in Benson, Arizona.

The offsite work crews cover an area between Tucson, Nogales, Marana, Benson and Sells. There are ten crews that work on site, outside of the secure perimeter to maintain the Complex.

In addition to these inmate crews, each unit is allocated a WIPP (Work Incentive Pay Plan) budget based on the number of inmates assigned to the unit. On average over 1900 inmates are paid to work at jobs ranging from labor crews which clean the yard, rake rocks and mow lawns, to semi-skilled and skilled jobs such as clerical, barber and maintenance jobs.

Inmates may also work half a day and attend vocational education classes half a day for which they also receive WIPP wages. The Arizona Correctional Industries Sign Shop at ASPC-Tucson employs up to 26 inmates at an average wage of $.65/hour. These inmates reclassified as skilled to highly technical, depending on the job involved. Most positions require a background in computer, silk screen, painting or metal fabrication.

Presently of a total population of approximately 5000 inmates at the Tucson complex, approximately 30% of ASPC-Tucson inmates are involved in some form of education. Forty percent of arriving inmates have not yet achieved an 8th-grade level of education and are automatically enrolled in the Functional Literacy program.

Programs available to the inmates are: High School, GED, and Mandatory Literacy. The programs offered by the CTE program are:  Automotive, Computers, Construction, Electrical, and HVAC. Inmates also have access to distance learning and CCTV programs.

Treatment Programs

Cimarron

• AA
• Brief Intervention
• Substance Abuse
• Thinking Straight
• Cultural Diversity
• Pre-Release
• Parenting
• Smart Recovery
• Transition to Tomorrow
• Merging Two Worlds
• Thinking For A Change
• Cage your Rage

Catalina

• AA
• NA
• Alcohol Education - Self Study
• Recreation
• ICVC
• Prison ReEntry Program
• Pre-Release
• Parenting
• Transition to Tomorrow
• Thinking For A Change
• Fire Crew
• Cognitive restructuring
• GED
• High school

Winchester

• Alcoholics Anonymous
• Narcotics Anonymous
• Pre-Release Planning
• Merging Two Worlds
• Thinking For A Change
• Yoga
• Stress Management
• RSAT
• Pima Community College classes
• HVAC
• Automotive
• Construction
• Various Religious Services
• Meditation

Manzanita

• Alcoholics Anonymous
• Narcotics Anonymous
• Creative Writing Workshop
• Merging Two Worlds
• Cognitive Restructuring
• Inmates Enrolled GED
• Inmates Enrolled Mandatory Literacy

Minors

• Father Read Program
• Brief Intervention
• Cultural Diversity

Santa Rita

• Co-occurring Treatment
• Merging Two Worlds
• Thinking For A Change

Pictures of Arizona State Prison Complex - Tucson

Careers at Arizona State Prison Complex - Tucson

If you are interested in pursuing a career with the Arizona Department of Corrections, you can find available positions at Arizona State Prison Complex - Tucson by visiting their website.

Benefits include health insurance, plus paid leave and holidays.