My name is Avery Church, and I have spent decades inside the Nevada prison system. I am currently serving a 20-to-life sentence for a robbery with no weapon. I have accepted responsibility for my actions. I am not the same man I was when I was 28 — but I will always defend myself against retaliation and misrepresentation.

Despite maintaining an exemplary seven-year record with no infractions and testifying before the Pardons Board on December 16, 2025, I continue to face systemic retaliation, misclassification, and unsafe conditions. These problems reach far beyond my case — they reflect systemic failures affecting thousands of people inside Nevada’s prisons.

I have been repeatedly misclassified as “high risk,” placed in dangerous units despite a clean record, denied access to critical assessments, and subjected to delays, lockdowns, and understaffing that compromise basic safety. My work record has been rewritten, my visitors’ logs have been altered, and requests for my own records have been blocked or ignored.

Nevada prisons continue to face preventable deaths, drug saturation, chronic understaffing, reduced visitation, lack of programming, and a mismanaged $50 million budget. Families pay rising fees while inmates lose rehabilitative opportunities.

My testimony is one example of a broader problem. I share my experience not to speak for everyone — but to show what systemic failures look like from the inside. I am committed to accountability, transparency, and reform in Nevada’s prison system.