Graham County

The Detention Center

Graham County Adult Detention Facility

• Operated byGraham County Sheriff's Office
• Jail address600 W. Graham Canal Road, Safford, AZ 85546. Phone 928-428-3141. The name and address are on the sign at the entrance, which the county publishes as a photograph
• Its mission, in the county's own words'The mission of Graham County Detention Facility is to provide for community safety, facility security and the welfare of staff and inmates. Facility operations comply with the standards for local detention facilities set forth by the National Sheriff's Association, the American Correctional Association, the Arizona Detention Association, and the National Commission on Correctional Health Care'
• What it says it is not for'The primary function of the detention facility is to safely and securely, detain both pre-trial detainees and County sentenced inmates. However, staff members understand that inmates are subject to deprivations resulting merely from confinement and that their role is not to inflict punishment, but make the inmate's period of confinement as productive as possible.' And: 'Graham County Detention Facility strives to ensure that no inmate shall leave the Detention Facility in worse physical or mental condition than when they were admitted'
• It has been accredited'We are proud to announce that on June 3, 2025, the Graham County Adult Detention Facility earned Level 1 Accreditation-the highest standard of excellence in jail operations. Out of 15 counties in Arizona, Graham County is one of only three facilities to hold this distinguished accreditation.' The county describes the process as 'a rigorous audit and inspection of 561 legal-based guidelines, covering policies, procedures, and operational practices', conducted against the Arizona Legal-Based Jail Guidelines and National Institute for Jail Operations standards
• Two other awards it publishes'2024 - Received the Merit Award for Innovation of the Year for jail operations from the Arizona Sheriffs' Association. 2025 - Honored with the Innovation of the Year Award by the National Institute of Jail Operations (NIJO)'
• Visitation and its priceVideo visitation through VizVox, phone (888) 646-9437. 'Note: One free video visit per week. Any additional video visit will be assessed a $7.50 fee.' The inmate phone system is ICSolutions, (888) 506-8407
• CommissaryDeposits by kiosk in the front lobby of the Sheriff's Office, by phone on (866) 345-1884, or online at accesscorrections.com; 'We no longer accept money orders for inmate's commissary account'. Secure Pak ordering on (800) 546-6283 or accesssecurepak.com
• Bonding someone out'When bonding out an inmate on cash only bonds, only money orders are accepted, no cash. If during business hours, bonds must be posted at the proper court(s)'
• A note on contrabandThe Jail Visitors page prints ARS 13-2505 in full - promoting prison contraband, a class 2 felony - above the visiting information. Mandatory lock-down, with no inmate movement, is 7-8 a.m., noon-1 p.m. and 5-6 p.m.
• What was triedArchived captures of the Sheriff page, Adult Detention, Jail Visitors, Detention Medical, the Booking Roster document, the Board of Supervisors page, Financial Information, Financial Reports and the county budget archive, the Justice Court and Superior Court pages, and the county's robots.txt and sitemap. No bed count, no daily population, no death in custody, no PREA audit and no year of construction was found

Source: Graham County, AZ - Sheriff (Internet Archive capture of 22 April 2026) · checked 2026-08-23

• ✓The jail is named
• ✗Who is in custody — not published
• ✗Beds and daily population — not published
• ✓What it costs taxpayers
• ✗Deaths in custody — not published
• ✗PREA audits — not published
• ✓Independent inspection
• ✗Who else it holds, and for how much — not published
• ✓How to post bond
• ✓Phone, video and commissary rates

This rates disclosure, not conduct — what Graham County publishes about a jail its taxpayers own, checked 2026-08-23. Nothing here says the jail is run well or badly. Every mark moves the moment the county posts the document.

The Building

You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.

• Year builtNot found
• Original costNot found
• Paid for byNot found for construction. The detention facility is funded through the Sheriff's appropriation in the county budget; Graham County has no jail district and no dedicated jail tax
• BedsNot found

The Sheriff

Sheriff Preston "P.J." Allred

• Runs the jailYes. Adult Detention is a page under the Sheriff on the county's own site, and the Sheriff's contact block appears on it. ARS 31-101 and ARS 11-441(A)(5) make the sheriff the jailer in every Arizona county
• How the office is filledElected. Arizona county sheriffs are elected countywide to four-year terms
• Office600 W. Graham Canal Road, Safford, AZ 85546 - the same address as the detention facility. Phone 928-428-3141, fax 928-792-5251, office hours Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Anonymous reporting'Report a Crime, Phone: 928-428-2746. Call with information regarding any criminal activity to remain anonymous'
• What the office publishes for families of prisonersDirect phone numbers for education (928-428-3141, ask for Education, for anyone in custody without a high school diploma or GED), for drug or alcohol treatment (928-428-3141, ask for programs), and a 24-hour mental health line on 866-495-6735
• AppointmentsMade through Iliana Alvarado, Secretary, to speak to staff or a deputy or report a crime
• A note on accessThe live county website could not be reached during this research: graham.az.gov answers most page requests with HTTP 403 behind Cloudflare, although its robots.txt still serves. Every county-published fact recorded here is taken from the Internet Archive's capture of the county's own pages, with the capture date given. The Sheriff page capture is 22 April 2026 and the Adult Detention capture 1 February 2026

Source: Graham County, AZ - Adult Detention (Internet Archive capture of 1 February 2026) · checked 2026-08-23

The Judges

Arizona Superior Court judges outside Maricopa and Pima Counties are elected countywide in nonpartisan elections to four-year terms; in Maricopa and Pima they are appointed by the Governor from a commission's nominees and then face retention votes. Graham County elects its Superior Court judge, and Michael Peterson is presiding judge - taken from the Arizona Supreme Court's list, because the county's own court pages do not name him. Justices of the peace are elected to four-year terms in their precinct, and the Graham County Justice Court sets release conditions at the initial appearance - its own page says so: 'Felony cases (CF), start in Justice Court with an "Initial Appearance" where the charges are reviewed, rights given, and release conditions set.' The county's jail page confirms where that decision is executed, telling families that cash-only bonds 'must be posted at the proper court(s)' during business hours. No justice of the peace is named on any archived county court page reached, so the bench is recorded here by court rather than by name. Note also that the county publishes a 'Clerks - Past & Present' series under Clerk of the Superior Court; the page for Cleveland Curtis, born 1892, is a historical biography and not the current clerk. Graham County also shares the Eastern Arizona Regional Juvenile Detention arrangement, which the county lists among its court pages and which is separate from the adult detention facility. All judges here are state judicial officers rather than county officials, even though the county funds the courts.

Source: the state judiciary · checked 2026-08-23

The County Commissioners

They pay for the jail. The sheriff runs it.

• What they controlThe detention budget, the building itself, and the agreements that let other agencies rent its beds.
• What they don'tDay-to-day operations. The sheriff is separately elected and answers to voters, not to the board.
• The boardBoard of County Commissioners →
• Where the jail money is decidedAgendas and minutes →