Arizona Criminal Justice Commission

Arizona Criminal Justice Commission, operating as Arizona Corrections Support, is a U.S. state government entity that functions as a federal grant recipient under the Department of Justice, administering criminal justice and corrections programs across Arizona as the state's central coordinating and grant-distribution agency. The organization holds no federal contracts but operates exclusively as a prime recipient on federal grants, with 155 awards totaling $179.2 million in obligated dollars across a twenty-year footprint.

The commission's federal grant portfolio centers on criminal justice system infrastructure, records improvement, substance abuse treatment, victim assistance, and crime reduction. Recent representative work includes a $4.227 million cooperative agreement from the Bureau of Justice Statistics under the NICS Act Record Improvement Program (CFDA 16.813) awarded July 1, 2026 through September 30, 2029, coordinating criminal history records automation and disposition backlog reduction across the Arizona Attorney General's Office, Arizona Department of Public Safety, county attorneys, and local law enforcement; a $429,688 formula grant under the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment for State Prisoners program (CFDA 16.593) awarded October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2029 to fund pretrial and residential treatment programs, aftercare, and post-release services targeting the documented 65 percent of Arizona's inmate population requiring substance abuse treatment; a $500,000 cooperative agreement from the Victims of Crime program (CFDA 16.582) awarded October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2028 to develop a statewide victim compensation claims management system with online applications, a victim portal, multilingual content, AI integration, and inter-county claim transfers; and a $1.844 million cooperative agreement under the NICS Act Record Improvement Program (CFDA 16.813) awarded October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2026 to support NICS Task Force planning, records automation targeting 4,500 non-automated records from a backlog of 134,714, and disposition reporting projects with the Phoenix Police Department addressing over 900,000 unreported final dispositions.

The Department of Justice dominates the customer base. The top five funding lines within DOJ account for 97 percent of recent awards: the Bureau of Justice Assistance (64 awards), the Office of Justice Programs general line (45 awards), the Bureau of Justice Statistics (30 awards), the Victims of Crime office (10 awards), and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (2 awards). The commission also serves as the state administering agency for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program (JAG), the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP), the NICS Act Record Improvement Program, the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment for State Prisoners program (RSAT), the Project Safe Neighborhoods program, the Crime Victims Assistance program, and the Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grant, distributing competitive and formula grants to state, tribal, county, and local government agencies across Arizona. Activity has remained stable at roughly ten awards per year over the past five years, with a slight decline in 2025 and 2026 reflecting a data collection lag rather than strategic contraction. Sixteen awards with ultimate completion dates in the next twenty-four months face recompete or award renewal, representing the near-term grant pipeline.

As a statutory entity within the State of Arizona, the commission houses the Arizona Statistical Analysis Center (AZSAC), which conducts criminal justice data research and publishes performance dashboards for state and local decision-making, and operates the state's central collection point for criminal justice data pursuant to Arizona House Bill 2166. Work is performed in Phoenix, Arizona.