Key Points 

• Prison oversight funding failed despite court pressure 

• Bipartisan reforms eased court fees, modified probation

• Advocates plan renewed prison oversight, confinement reforms next session

Despite facing a takeover of the prison healthcare system, the state failed to fully fund court costs and again declined to cover start-up costs for an independent prison oversight office.

The Legislature, however, did make some strides in criminal justice reform with the passage of bills eliminating certain court fees for criminal defendants, modifying probation conditions and creating committees to study inmate mental health and incarceration related to failure to pay fines and fees.

Some policy changes still sit on the table for next session – including a long-running bill to expand the home confinement program for eligible inmates and, again, attempts to fully fund an office to monitor the state prison system.

The reasons behind bills failing vary, with legislation often getting caught up in procedural traps, but advocates still plan to push on for the next session.

“It’s frustrating with any topic, but I think with criminal justice issues where the stakes are just so high, it’s really upsetting to see these reforms fall victim to just structural issues,” Estrella López, senior state policy manager for Justice Action Network, said. “That’s unfortunate, but there’s always next year.”

As the legislative session rolled on, the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry continued to contend with a 14-year-long class action lawsuit over the conditions and caliber of healthcare in state prisons.

In February, federal district Judge Roslyn Silver ordered the department’s healthcare system under receivership, and plaintiffs in the lawsuit continued to push for department compliance with a years-long healthcare staffing plan, demanding funding in the state budget.

Meanwhile, lawmakers and criminal justice reform advocates continued to push for $1.5 million in funding to create an independent office to monitor and report on the state prison system at large.

The final budget proposal, greenlit by the governor and the Legislature, included only half of the necessary funding to comply with healthcare staffing requirements and left out the $1.5 million request for the oversight office.

Gov. Katie Hobbs cited the failure to fully fund costs related to increasing staff in the state prison system as a source of frustration in budget negotiations but maintained her office and the department’s commitment to continuing to work toward compliance with court orders.

“This is what we are able to negotiate in the budget,” Hobbs told reporters in June. “We’re continuing to work to meet the conditions of the court and this lawsuit.”

Oversight funding never materialized in Hobbs’ executive budget proposal, nor any budget proposal floated by the legislative majority, and expectedly, it failed to make it into the final proposal passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor, despite some lawmakers’ broad support for the appropriations bill and a last-minute nudge in committee to see it included.

“We had the political capital, the will, and it just didn’t get done,” López said.

John Fabricius, executive director of Praxis Initiative, stressed the importance of building in extra monitoring of the prison system and vowed to keep fighting going forward.

“We have oversight organizations in the state overseeing everything from nail and makeup to education,” Fabricius said. “And we don’t have any type of oversight over the one agency that’s consuming a third of the budget and houses human beings 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.”

The original bill creating the oversight office allows for private and federal grant funding, now leaving advocates to look elsewhere.

“We’re dying on the vine for funding,” Fabricius said. “It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.”

Though oversight funding fell through, advocates did celebrate victories in reforming court fees and probation and in keeping momentum on legislation to address inmate mental health treatment.

House Bill 2265, sponsored by Rep. Neal Carter, R-San Tan Valley, eliminated the fees levied on criminal defendants for court-appointed counsel, jury trials and appeals. It was signed by the governor on June 19.

Hobbs also enacted Senate Bill 1662, sponsored by Sen. Shawnna Bolick, R-Phoenix. The legislation directs the courts to only impose conditions of probation that are reasonably necessary to address the level of risk posed and individually tailored to every individual.

“This change will make it better for the people that are on probation, for the communities that they’re in, but also for probation officers,” López said. “If they’re not being made to enforce unnecessary conditions, they can really focus their time and effort on the people who need it most, which is what will serve public safety.”

Lawmakers also created a study committee to look at how prisons and jails assess and treat inmates with mental illness, with a report due at the end of the year.

Unsuccessful legislative proposals will likely make the rounds again next session. Senate Bill 1110 proposed a home confinement system allowing inmates with nonviolent offenses and disciplinary records an early path out of incarceration.

Both the House and Senate overwhelmingly passed the bill, but it ultimately did not go up for a final vote and ended the session without a signature from the governor.

Though unsuccessful, advocates still have hope for future sessions.

López stressed criminal justice reforms continue to escape party lines, leaving a shared legislative goal to change the state’s systems.

“People want a criminal justice system that is safe, that promotes public safety, that is fair, that is efficient,” López said.“Because the stakes are high, because public safety is one of the concerns, because individual liberty is on the line, there’s a lot of hesitance to move away from how it’s always been done. But if you have an opportunity to actually engage in conversations that are about the issues, that put politics aside, there’s a lot of agreement.”