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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh Legislature, First Regular Session
independent corrections; ombudsman; auditor general
Purpose
Establishes the Office of the Independent Corrections Ombudsman (Office) within the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) to monitor inmate health and safety and investigate related complaints.
Background
The OAG is charged with several powers and duties, including: 1) preparing an audit plan for approval by JLAC; 2) conducting audits relating to the finances and performance of state agencies, government functions and school districts; 3) performing special research requests, special audits and investigations of state agencies as requested by JLAC; 4) reporting the results of each audit, investigation or review to JLAC; and 5) establishing a uniform expenditure reporting system for political subdivisions (A.R.S. § 41-1279.03).
The Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry (ADCRR) is charged with encompassing the various institutions, facilities and programs which are now or may become a part of the correctional program of the state, and providing the supervisory staff and administrative functions at the state level for all matters relating to the institutionalization, rehabilitation and community supervision functions of adult offenders (A.R.S. § 41-1602).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1. Establishes the Office within the OAG.
2. Requires the Governor to appoint, subject to consent of the Senate, a qualified person of sound judgement, objectivity and integrity who has experience in corrections-related law and policy to serve as the Director of the Office of the Independent Corrections Ombudsman (Director).
3. Requires the Director to serve for a term of five years.
4. Allows the Legislature, by concurrent resolution receiving a majority of the members of each House, or the Governor to remove the Director only for neglect of duty, misconduct or the inability to perform duties.
5. Requires any vacancy to be filled by appointment by the Governor, subject to consent of the Senate, for the remainder of the unexpired term.
6. States that a person is not eligible for appointment as Director if the person or person's spouse meets any of the following:
a) is or has been employed by or participates in the management of a business or other organization that receives monies from ADCRR within the previous five years;
b) owns or controls, directly or indirectly, any interest in a business or other organization that received monies from ADCRR within the previous five years;
c) uses or receives any amount of tangible goods, services or monies from ADCRR; or
d) is required to register as a lobbyist of behalf of a profession related to the operation of ADCRR.
7. Requires the Office to:
a) monitor the conditions of confinement and assess ADCRR's compliance with any applicable federal and state rules, policies and best practices that relate to inmate health, safety, welfare and rehabilitation;
b) provide information, as appropriate, to inmates, inmates' family members, inmate representatives, ADCRR employees and contractors and other persons regarding the rights of inmates;
c) promote public awareness and understanding of the rights and responsibilities of inmates;
d) create a secure telephone hotline that is available to all ADCRR employees, contractors and inmates to file complaints and make inquiries regarding issues on their behalf;
e) create secure online forms for all ADCRR employees, inmates and inmates' family members to submit complaints electronically on the Office's website;
f) establish priorities for the use of the Office's limited resources;
g) monitor and participate in any legislative and policy developments affecting correctional facilities in Arizona;
h) establish a statewide uniform reporting system to collect and analyze data related to complaints received by ADCRR;
i) inspect each correctional facility at least once every two years;
j) adopt any rules necessary to implement the duties of the Office;
k) establish procedures to gather stakeholder input into the Office's activities and priorities including schedule quarterly stakeholder meetings; and
l) submit, by December 31 each year, a report to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the Senate, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, the chairpersons of the Senate and House of Representatives' Judiciary Committees or their successor committees.
8. Requires the annual report to include the following:
a) the budget and expenditures of the Office;
b) the number of complaints received and resolved by the Office;
c) a description of significant systemic or individual investigations or outcomes achieved by the Office during the previous year;
d) the number of inmate deaths while the inmate was in custody, including suicides and the number of suicide attempts while the inmate was in custody;
e) any outstanding or unresolved concerns or recommendations of the Office; and
f) any of the following information from ADCRR:
i. the number of physical and sexual assaults in custody;
ii. the number of inmates who were placed in administrative segregation or solitary confinement and the duration of stay in segregation or solitary confinement;
iii. the number of facility lockdowns that lasted longer than 24 hours;
iv. the number of staff, the tenure of each staff member, the staff turnover rate, staff vacancies and staff compensation at each facility;
v. the number of inmates at each facility;
vi. the inmate-to-staff ratio at each facility;
vii. the number of in-person visits that were made for each inmate at each facility;
viii. the number of in-person visits that were denied for each inmate at each facility; and
ix. the number of inmate complaints or grievances that were submitted to the ADCRR, ADCRR's resolution of the complaint or grievance in accordance with the administrative remedies process and the amount of time it took the ADCRR to resolve each compliant or grievance.
9. Allows the Office to initiate and attempt to resolve an investigation on its own initiative or after receiving a complaint from an inmate, inmates' family member, inmate representative, ADCRR employee or contractor or any other person regarding any of the following that may adversely affect inmate health, safety, welfare and rights:
a) abuse or neglect;
b) conditions of confinement;
c) ADCRR decisions or administrative actions;
d) ADCRR inaction or omissions;
e) ADCRR policies, rules or procedures; or
f) alleged violations of law by ADCRR staff.
10. Allows the Office to decline to investigate any complaint.
11. Requires the Office, if it does not investigate a complaint, to notify the complainant in writing of the decision not to investigate and the reasons for the decision.
12. Prohibits the Office from investigating the following complaints:
a) a complaint that relates to an inmate's underlying criminal conviction; or
b) a complaint from an ADCRR employee or contractor that relates to the employee's or contractor's employment relationship with ADCRR unless the complaint relates to inmate health, safety, welfare or rehabilitation.
13. Prohibits the Office from levying any fees for the submission or investigation of complaints.
14. Requires the Office to remain neutral and impartial.
15. Prohibits the Office from acting as an advocate for the complainant or ADCRR.
16. Requires the Office, after investigating a complaint, to render a public decision on the merits of each complaint except that the documents supporting the decision are subject to confidentiality requirements.
17. Requires the Office to inform the inmate and ADCRR of the decision.
18. Requires the Office to state the Office's recommendations and reasoning if, in the Office's opinion, ADCRR or any other ADCRR employee or contractor should do any of the following:
a) consider the matter further;
b) modify or cancel any action;
c) alter a rule, practice or ruling;
d) explain in detail the administrative action in question; or
e) rectify an omission.
19. Requires ADCRR, on request from the Office and within the time specified, to inform the Office in writing about any action taken on the recommendations or the reasons for not complying with the recommendations.
20. Requires the Office, if it believes based on the investigation that there has been or continues to be a significate inmate health, safety, welfare or rehabilitation issue, to report the finding to:
a) the Governor;
b) the President of the Senate;
c) the Speaker of the House of Representatives;
d) the Director of ADCRR; and
e) the Secretary of State.
21. Requires the Office, before announcing a conclusion or recommendation that expressly or implicitly criticizes a person or ADCRR, to consult with that person or ADCRR.
22. Allows the Office to request to be notified by ADCRR, within a specified time, of any action taken on any recommendation presented.
23. States that all correspondence and communication between the Office and ADCRR are confidential and privileged.
24. Requires the Office to establish confidentiality rules and procedures for all information maintained by the Office to ensure that the identity of a complainant remains confidential before, during and after an investigation to the greatest extent practicable.
25. Allows the Office to disclose a complainant's identifying information for the sole purpose of carrying out an investigation.
26. Requires the Office, to the extent the Office believes is reasonably necessary, to reveal information obtained in the course of an investigation to prevent reasonably certain death or substantial bodily harm.
27. Allows the Office, to the extent the Office believes is reasonably necessary, to reveal information obtained in the course of an investigation to prevent the commission of a crime.
28. Requires the Office, if it believes it is necessary to reveal information obtained in the course of an investigation, to provide a copy of the intended disclosure to ADCRR or review before releasing the information to any other person or entity.
29. Prohibits the Office, if it receives personally identifying information about a person during the course of an investigation that is determined is unrelated or unnecessary to the investigation, from further disclosing such information.
30. Requires the Office to have access in the same manner as the Director of ADCRR, in person and with or without prior notice, to:
a) all facilities, including all areas that are used by or are otherwise accessible to inmates, ADCRR staff and contractors;
b) programs for inmates at reasonable times, including access during normal working hours and visiting hours; and
c) any in inmate, ADCRR employee or contractor or other person to conduct interviews.
31. States the Office's access is for the purpose of:
a) providing information about individual rights and the services available from the Office, including the name, address and telephone number of the Office facilities or staff; and
b) conducting official inspections.
32. Allows the Office to access, inspect and copy all relevant information, records or documents that are in the possession or control of ADCRR and that the Office considers necessary to investigate a complaint.
33. Requires ADCRR to assist the Office in obtaining the necessary releases for documents that are specifically restricted or privileged for use by the Office.
34. Requires the designated ADCRR Staff, following notification from the Office with a written demand for access to ADCRR records, to provide the Office with access to the requested documentation no later than 20 business days after the Office's written request for the records.
35. Requires ADCRR, if the request for records pertains to an inmate death, threats of bodily harm, including sexual or physical assaults, or the denial of necessary medical treatment to provide the records within five business days unless the Office contests to an extension of that time frame.
36. Requires the Office to:
a) work with ADCRR to minimize disruption to the operations of ADCRR due to Office activities; and
b) comply with ADCRR's reasonable security clearance process if these processes so not impede the authorized activities of the Office.
37. Allows the Office to issue subpoenas to ADCRR for records, documents or data in ADCRR's possession and for ADCRR Staff, contractors or representatives.
38. Allows a subpoena that is served to be enforced on application to the court, in the same manner provided by law for the service and enforcement of a subpoena in a civil action.
39. Allows the Office, if ADCRR fails to comply with a subpoena, to pursue enforcement of the subpoena in a court or refer the subpoena for enforcement to:
a) the President of the Senate;
b) the Speaker of the House of Representatives; or
c) the chairperson of any committee of the Legislature
40. States that the Office's action or lack of action on a complaint is not deemed an administrative procedure required for exhaustion of remedies before bringing an action in accordance with federal or state law.
41. Eliminates the requirement for ADCRR to submit an annual report to the Legislature relating to prescribed inmate data within its facilities.
42. Defines the Office and ADCRR.
43. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
Prepared by Senate Research
February 16, 2025
JT/ci