State disputes Las Vegas group’s criticism of Nevada prison conditions

State officials on Wednesday fired back at a Las Vegas nonprofit that has a history of criticizing the Nevada Department of Corrections over what were described as poor conditions for inmates.

Through a news release, department officials said they wanted to correct “errors and misinformation” released by Parole Pathways, a nonprofit group that advocates for inmates in Nevada prisons.

From 2023 through Wednesday, the department said, 206 prisoners died in custody. Of those, the news release said, 20 were ruled homicides.

Jenna Hixon, founder and president of Parole Pathways, said Wednesday that she believes the correct figure should be close to double what the NDOC provided for homicides, though she said she counts deaths that she believes were caused by medical neglect.

Hixon, 29, said she viewed the news release as a positive step for her organization’s cause.

“I feel gratitude, honestly,” Hixon said. “They’re recognizing that there are issues and they are finally responding to something after months of no response.”

Problems in the prisons

On Monday, 31-year-old Enrique Rojas-Rubio died at High Desert State Prison, according to the department. The Clark County coroner’s office would later classify Rojas-Rubio’s cause of death as hanging.

The death represented the ninth inmate at the prison 40 miles northwest of Las Vegas so far this year. Overall, according to the department, 25 inmates at NDOC facilities have died in 2026.

The total for this year is on pace to be less than the 76 who died at Nevada prisons in 2025, though Hixon said conditions inside Nevada prisons, especially at High Desert, are dire.

“We know, from personal and family testimony, what is going on behind these bars,” Hixon said. “There are correctional officers who are bringing in drugs and cellphones to these prisons. They’re being paid to do it, and making more money than what the state is paying them. The wardens have to take accountability and these officers need to be investigated and fired.”

Hixon said officials should address drugs being introduced into the prison system, but that it’s not the only issue that deserves attention.

She said synthetic designer drugs intended to mimic THC, which often goes by the street name “Spice,” were prevalent in the system.

In October, NDOC Director James Dzurenda said during an Interim Finance Committee meeting that synthetic drugs were being smuggled into the state’s prisons through ink on mailed corresponddence.

At the time, he said that pathway of drug introduction into prisons was largely the root of an overdose problem within the inmate population.

From Jan. 1, 2025 through mid-October, Dzurenda said close to 130 inmates had been hospitalized over suspected overdoses. In 2024, he said, that number for the entire year was 59.

In August, the NDOC announced the arrest of Hoza Del Collins, a former Nevada inmate who was accused of crimes related to the supply of certain synthetic drugs to the state’s prisons.

In a news release, the department said “the arrest comes after a series of homicides in the Nevada prisons, where drugs are believed to have played a role in some of the killings.”

The synthetic drugs, the release said, can be made from common household items, such as bug-killing products and cleaning agents.

A emailed request for an interview with Dzurenda was not returned.

By the numbers

From Jan. 1, 2023, through Wednesday, the department said the average inmate population at all NDOC facilities was 10,380, which meant the mortality rate for prisoners during that time was less than the state average.

According to numbers cited by the department, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities reported that Nevada had less than 800 deaths per 100,000 residents in 2023.

Of all prison deaths so far in 2026, the department said one has been recorded as a homicide, which shows a downward trend from 2025, a bloody year in Nevada prisons, particularly at High Desert.

During a period of less than one month from July 17, 2025, through Aug. 12, 2025, three inmates died at High Desert in cases that were later ruled homicides by the coroner’s office.

Jacob Herman, 35; Jordan Canteberry, 34; and D’marea Cobbs Wallace, 18, all were classified as homicides. Herman’s death was caused by strangulation, according to the coroner, while Canteberry and Cobbs Wallace were killed by “multiple stab wounds.”

Donald Hixon, Jenna Hixon’s husband, helps run Parole Pathways, and is a former inmate in the Nevada system. He served time at High Desert, where he was shot by a corrections officer in 2005.

The department went on to fire corrections officer Paul Chaffee after he was indicted by a Clark County grand jury over the shooting. In 2008, Chaffee was acquitted at trial after being charged with battery with a deadly weapon.

Donald Hixon said he received a settlement from the state of over $100,000. People incarcerated at High Desert, he said, live in near constant fear.

“I have friends in there, and I can say that it used to be a lot better than what it is now,” Donald Hixon said. “I don’t think they take pride in their jobs anymore. We need officers who take pride in their jobs and who are vetted before they’re hired. I think these officers, and staff, are getting involved in prison politics more than they should. These are state employees, government employees.”

Department officials said through the Wednesday news release that they learned of rumors that have circulated through a number of Nevada prisoner advocate groups. Prison officials said they “vehemently denies allegations that an offender was killed by officers” recently.

“It is the mission of the NDOC to maintain offenders in safe and humane conditions while preparing them for successful re-entry,” the release stated. “The Department has increased surveillance and shifted staff operations to reduce the number of offenders outside of their cells at one time. The Department is exploring additional methods to reduce violence within the facilities, to include limiting the introduction of contraband through the mail system.”