PHOENIX -- Arizona Department of Corrections inmates could soon replace custodians at state office buildings.

Inmates already work outside the capital landscaping and doing maintenance work, but to save money, the state also wants them to work inside doing janitorial work.

About 30 custodians could lose their jobs. One of those is Terry Nickerson, who has worked at the capital for 38 years.

"I'm surprised they would (stoop) that low," Nickerson said. "Having some inmate replace my job for all the years I've been there."

Democratic State Sen. Rebecca Rios said she's concerned about security issues.

"There's a lot of red flags that go up for me in terms of what offices we're talking about," Rios said. "Are we talking about the Secretary of State office. Are we talking about the treasurer's office and the attorney general's office?"

Rios said she's concerned there could be Social Security numbers and other pieces of personal information left out on desks.

Alan Ecker, from Arizona's Department of Administration, said inmates would be supervised and would not clean offices that contain sensitive information. He said the state would contract out for those offices.

At 50 cents an hour for an inmate, the state could potentially save $200,000.

After 38 years of showing up for work everyday, Nickerson said he feels cheated.

"It makes me feel like the convict not them," said Nickerson. "In a sense I feel like they're cheating me out of my job. I don't think that's right,"

Ecker said the state should know in the next week if inmates will replace custodians in state office buildings.