Idaho prison system reaches 11 deaths this year after 45-year-old man dies
An Idaho prisoner who was out for the day on work release died over the weekend.
The 45-year-old, whose name has not been released, died at 6:24 p.m. on Saturday, July 11, after suffering a medical emergency, according to the Idaho Department of Correction. He was incarcerated at the South Idaho Correctional Institution just south of Boise.
There have been more than 80 deaths within the state’s prison system since 2020, according to a database of in-custody deaths maintained by the Idaho Statesman. Eleven people have died within the state’s prisons this year, including 33-year-old Adam Dees, who was incarcerated in a private prison in Arizona where hundreds of Idahoans are taken because of overcrowding here.
Nearly two dozen people have died throughout the state’s prisons each of the past few years, with 23 deaths in 2025; 21 deaths in 2024; and 22 deaths in 2023, according to data obtained by the Statesman through a public records request. Between 2020 and 2022 — a time when many prisons throughout the country saw high death tolls because of the COVID-19 pandemic — the total was only 10 deaths for Idaho.
It’s unknown whether the man who died over the weekend was working indoors or outdoors; IDOC couldn’t confirm the man’s exact location at the time of incident, spokesperson Ryan Mortensen told the Statesman. The Treasure Valley saw extremely high temperatures over the weekend, with 104 degrees at around 5 p.m. Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.
“IDOC is grateful to those who acted quickly to provide assistance during the medical emergency,” Mortensen wrote in an email.
This story was originally published July 15, 2026 at 12:25 PM.
