Key Points: 

• A bipartisan proposal to create an independent prison oversight office stalls 

• Despite broad legislative support, governor and corrections still have concerns

• Lawmakers continue to push proposal and attached appropriation in budget 

A proposal to create an independent oversight office to monitor and report on the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry hit a wall at the governor’s office despite broad bipartisan support throughout the session. 

Oversight advocates and a slate of lawmakers have long been pushing for another set of eyes on the state’s carceral system, and this year, they came closer than ever before.

However, reservations from the governor and the Department of Corrections stalled the bill’s momentum, resulting in two chamber budget proposals that lacked the $1.5 million appropriation to create the office. 

Some legislators were still pushing to get it in the budget as of June 19. But, if all else fails, stakeholders say there is still hope to pass the underlying policy and funding down the line. 

Senate Bill 1507, sponsored by Sen. Shawnna Bolick, R-Phoenix, would create an oversight body to monitor conditions of confinement, investigate complaints, provide information on inmate rights and submit annual reports to the Legislature. 

Similar legislation, sponsored by Democrats and Republicans alike, has been introduced for the past five sessions, often with little success in securing a committee assignment.

This session, however, both Bolick and Rep. Walt Blackman, R-Snowflake, put up legislation, with Bolick’s bill going the distance. 

“We’ve tried getting this across the finish line, and this is about as far as it’s ever gotten,” Bolick said. 

Lawmakers passed SB1507 near-unanimously through the Senate’s Regulatory Affairs and Government Efficiency and Appropriations committees, and the House’s Government Committee. However, the bill’s fate hinges on the budget — given a $1.5 million appropriation is necessary to support getting the body off the ground. 

Bolick said the bill had full support from leadership and the vast majority of both caucuses in both chambers. 

Then came concerns from the Corrections Department and the governor’s office. 

The department remained neutral on the bill throughout but did warn lawmakers in committee hearings that the proposal could result in duplicative work done internally at the agency and externally by the new office. 

But lawmakers and those advocating for the bill continued to stress the need for oversight all around.

“Our belief is this is not conflicting with any internal efforts. In fact, it bolsters those efforts,” Lauren Krisai, executive director of Justice Action Network, a criminal justice and public safety reform group, said. “Real accountability and real transparency comes when you have both internal and external oversight.” 

Bolick said the governor’s office then came with requests to walk back the responsibilities, powers and scope of the proposed office. 

“There’s such bipartisan support for this that no one is interested in watering the bill down,” Bolick said. “We want to know what the issues are. We want to know what we need to address. We want to make sure that the individuals who are working there and being housed there are obviously in the safest possible environment.” 

Sen. Analise Ortiz, D-Phoenix, added that the Democratic caucus continues to be supportive of the bill, too. And as far as pushback from the governor’s office, Ortiz gestured back to her time on the Gov. Katie Hobbs’ Independent Prison Oversight Commission. 

The commission was tasked with inspecting prison facilities and records, and speaking with staff and inmates on mental health and medical care, drug treatment programs, access to nutrition, medicine, sanitary products and staffing levels and returning a report. 

The commission returned one major recommendation to the governor: create and fund a permanent oversight committee. 

“Having served on that commission, and knowing all of the other hard working people who volunteered their time to be on that commission to produce this report for the governor, it feels like a complete disservice,” Ortiz said. “It feels like a completely disrespectful stance.”

A spokesperson for the governor’s office declined to comment. The Corrections Department also declined to comment.