Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 41-7002 – Independent correctional oversight office; director; appointment; term; qualifications; powers and duties; annual report

A. The independent correctional oversight office is established. The governor shall appoint a qualified person pursuant to section 38-211 of sound judgment, objectivity and integrity who has experience in corrections-related law and policy to serve as the director of the office. The director shall serve full-time and for a term of five years and shall be a public officer subject to title 38, chapter 3, article 8 relating to conflicts of interest. The director is eligible to receive compensation pursuant to section 38-611. The legislature, by concurrent resolution receiving a two-thirds majority vote of the members of each house, or the governor may remove the director only for neglect of duty, misconduct or the inability to perform duties. Any vacancy must be filled by similar appointment pursuant to this subsection for the remainder of the unexpired term.
B. A person is not eligible for appointment to the office pursuant to subsection A of this section if the person or the person's spouse meets any of the following criteria:
1. 1. Is or has been employed by or participates in the management of a business or other organization that received monies from the department within the previous ten years.
2. 2. Owns or controls, directly or indirectly, any interest in a business or other organization that received monies from the department within the previous five years.
3. 3. Uses or receives any amount of tangible goods, services or monies from the department.
4. 4. Is required to register as a lobbyist on behalf of a profession related to the operation of the department.
C. The office shall:
1. 1. Monitor the conditions of confinement and assess the department's compliance with any applicable federal and state rules, policies and best practices that relate to inmate health, safety, welfare and rehabilitation.
2. 2. Provide information, as appropriate, to inmates, inmates' family members, inmate representatives, department employees and contractors and any other persons regarding the rights of inmates.
3. 3. Promote public awareness and understanding of the rights and responsibilities of inmates.
4. 4. Create a secure telephone hotline that is available to all department employees, contractors and inmates to file complaints and make inquiries regarding issues on their behalf.
5. 5. Create secure online forms for all department employees, inmates and inmates' family members to submit complaints electronically on the office's website.
6. 6. Establish priorities for the use of the office's limited resources.
7. 7. Monitor and participate in any legislative and policy developments affecting correctional facilities in this state.
8. 8. Establish a statewide uniform reporting system to collect and analyze data related to complaints received by the department.
9. 9. Inspect each correctional facility at least once every two years.
10. 10. Adopt any rules necessary to implement this section.
11. 11. Establish procedures to gather stakeholder input into the office's activities and priorities, including scheduling quarterly stakeholder meetings.
12. 12. On or before December 31 of each year, submit 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 chairperson of the senate judiciary and elections committee, or its successor committee, and the chairperson of the house of representatives judiciary committee, or its successor committee, that includes all of the following:
  1. (a) The budget and expenditures of the office.
  2. (b) The number of complaints received and resolved by the office.
  3. (c) A description of significant systemic or individual investigations or outcomes achieved by the office during the previous year.
  4. (d) The number of inmate deaths while the inmate was in custody and the manner and cause of death, if known, including suicides and the number of suicide attempts while the inmate was in custody.
  5. (e) The number of inmates with a completed medical power of attorney on file.
  6. (f) The number of inmates who were transported for medical treatment or to the emergency room or who were hospitalized while in custody, including the duration of the stay in the emergency room or the hospital.
  7. (g) The number of drug overdoses, including fatal and nonfatal drug overdoses, per inmate while in custody.
  8. (h) The number of inmates who have a mental health assessment score of three or higher or who are designated as seriously mentally ill and the security classification and housing status of each inmate who has a mental health assessment score of three or higher or who is designated as seriously mentally ill, including the number of inmates placed in isolation or restrictive housing for any duration of time in each facility.
  9. (i) Any outstanding or unresolved concerns or recommendations of the office.
  10. (j) All of the following information from the department:
    1. (i) The number of physical and sexual assaults in custody.
    2. (ii) The number of inmates who were placed in restrictive housing, administrative segregation or solitary confinement and the duration of stay in restrictive housing, administrative segregation or solitary confinement in each facility.
    3. (iii) The number of facility lockdowns that lasted twenty-four hours or longer.
    4. (iv) The number of staff, the tenure of each staff member, the staff turnover rate, staff vacancies and the staff compensation at each facility.
    5. (v) The number of inmates at each facility.
    6. (vi) The inmate-to-staff ratio at each facility.
    7. (vii) The number of in-person visits that were made for each inmate at each facility.
    8. (viii) The number of in-person visits that were denied for each inmate at each facility.
    9. (ix) The number of inmate complaints or grievances that were submitted to the department, the department's resolution of the complaint or grievance pursuant to the administrative remedies process and the amount of time it took the department to resolve each complaint or grievance.
    10. (x) An overview of the department's current inmate classification scoring system, including the criteria and scoring matrix used to assign inmate custody levels, and any changes made to the inmate classification scoring system since the last report.
    11. (xi) The number of inmates who are housed in a facility or unit with a custody level above or below the inmate's assigned classification level.
  11. (k) The department's compliance with all of the following:
    1. (i) The transition program established pursuant to section 31-281.
    2. (ii) The release and reporting provisions prescribed in section 31-285.
    3. (iii) The requirement as prescribed in section 41-1602 to provide rehabilitation, and the number of inmates who enroll, participate in and complete the department's rehabilitative self-improvement and treatment programs by institution and a description of each program.
    4. (iv) The earned release credit program pursuant to sections 41-1604.06, 41-1604.07 and 41-1604.10.
    5. (v) The reporting requirement pursuant to section 41-1604.14.
    6. (vi) The department's own policies regarding industry-recommended reporting guidelines.
D. On or before October 31 of each year, the department shall provide all of the information required by subsection C, paragraph 12, subdivisions (d), (e), (f), (g), (h) and (j) of this section to the office.