PHOENIX — The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office tells 12News it has spent nearly $3 million on new scanners to detect drugs and weapons on inmates entering its jail system.
Nearly 40 inmates died in the county jail system in 2025, according to records obtained by 12News Investigates through a public records request to the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office.
At least 20 of those deaths were drug-related, with fentanyl and methamphetamine among the leading causes…