Arizona lawmakers passed legislation to establish independent oversight of state prisons last session. Now, they want to fund it.
Sen. Shawnna Bolick (R-Phoenix) and Rep. Walt Blackman (R-Snowflake) are sponsoring bills in the state Legislature which would fund the new independent correctional oversight office.
They want to grant $1.5 million to the project.
Blackman and Bolick blamed Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs for not ensuring the oversight office got funded last session. The original legislation did have $1.5 million attached, but that didn’t make it into the state budget.
The original bipartisan oversight legislation was prompted by an uptick in inmate murders and assaults, including a triple homicide at a Tucson facility in April.
Bolick and Blackman’s legislation showed up online on Monday hours before the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation & Reentry announced two recent inmate deaths.
Leron Indian recently died at a state prison in Yuma and Jacob Major died at a state prison in Lewis.
“While the investigations into these deaths are ongoing, both of these deaths, though unrelated to one another, appear to be a direct result of isolated gang-related disputes and violence,” Department of Corrections said in a statement.
The department added that the two deaths “do not represent a threat to the wider inmate population or ADCRR staff.”
-
Earlier this year, researchers from ASU released a report about incarcerated women at Estrella Jail — a women’s-only facility in Maricopa County. Now those same researchers released a new report about the women at Perryville Prison in Goodyear. -
Arizona ranks ninth in the U.S. for number of incarcerated women. Most are moms, and many have histories of drug addiction, mental illness and physical or sexual abuse. And when it's time to come home — and many will — the work to repair those bonds can feel impossible without support. -
For two hours, students from GCU — many studying criminal justice — will try to navigate life after prison. It’s a simulation, but it doesn’t take long to feel real. -
The Arizona Supreme Court has issued an execution warrant for Leroy Dean McGill. -
The state Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry late last week announced it planned to appeal a judge’s ruling that appointed a receiver to oversee Arizona’s prison health care system.
