← All States

State Reform Profile

Arizona

Arizona's truth-in-sentencing law has kept its incarceration rate high. Prop 200 and recent reforms aim to shift toward diversion.

ALTREFORM COMPOSITE77/100

Key Statistics

Incarceration Rate
596
per 100,000 residents
Annual Cost
$24K
per incarcerated person
3-Year Recidivism
68%
reincarcerated within 3 yrs
Racial Disparity
3.2×
Black vs. White incarceration
Alt. Programs
22
active diversion programs
Reform Initiatives
5
tracked by AltReform

Incarceration by Race

AZ Overall596
National Avg568
Black (est.)1,144
White (est.)317

Incarceration rate per 100,000 residents. Racial estimates based on BJS/Sentencing Project methodology.

Recidivism Rate

68%3-year recidivism
This stateNational avg: 67%

Percent of people reincarcerated within 3 years of release. Source: BJS recidivism data series.

Cost vs. Alternatives

$24K
incarceration/yr
vs.
~$5K
diversion/yr

Active & Passed Reforms

4 initiatives

Prop 207 – Smart and Safe ActView full details →

Legalized marijuana and diverted tax revenue to community reinvestment.

PassedDrug Policy2020
AltReform Score74/100

SB 1334 – Probation ReformView full details →

Reduced probation terms and limited revocations for technical violations.

PassedDiversion2021
AltReform Score77/100

Mental Health Diversion CourtsView full details →

Pre-arrest diversion connecting people in mental health crisis to treatment.

ActiveMental Health2018
AltReform Score81/100

Proposed Initiatives

1 pending

Clean Slate ActView full details →

Automatic expungement for low-level convictions after 5 years.

ProposedReentry2023
AltReform Score73/100

Data Sources & Methodology

Reform data sourced from state legislative records, BJS Criminal Justice Statistics, the Vera Institute Incarceration Trends dataset, and The Sentencing Project. AltReform prediction scores (0,100) are generated by our ML model trained on 20+ years of state-level reform outcomes, weighting recidivism reduction, racial equity impact, cost-effectiveness, and political feasibility. Statistics are the most recent available (2021,2024).

Want to analyze a specific reform proposal for Arizona?

Open The Policy Studio™ →