Bill Text: AZ SB1629 | 2024 | Fifty-sixth Legislature 2nd Regular | Chaptered
Bill Title: Ombudsman; corrections; reporting requirements
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2024-03-29 - Chapter 59 [SB1629 Detail]
Download: Arizona-2024-SB1629-Chaptered.html
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Senate Engrossed
technical correction; state facilities |
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(now: ombudsman; corrections; reporting requirements)
State of Arizona Senate Fifty-sixth Legislature Second Regular Session 2024
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CHAPTER 59
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SENATE BILL 1629 |
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An Act
amending sections 41-1376 and 41-1604, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to the office of ombudsman-citizens aide.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 41-1376, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
41-1376. Powers and duties
A. The ombudsman-citizens aide shall:
1. Investigate the administrative acts of agencies pursuant to section 41-1377, subsections A and B except as provided in section 41-1377, subsections C, D and E. The ombudsman-citizens aide shall investigate the administrative acts of an agency without regard to the finality of the administrative act.
2. Annually before January 1 prepare a written report to the governor, the legislature and the public that contains a summary of the ombudsman-citizens aide's activities during the previous fiscal year. The ombudsman-citizens aide shall present this report annually before the legislative council and distribute copies of the report to the director of the governor's office of strategic planning and budgeting, the chairperson of the joint legislative budget committee and the cochairpersons of the administrative rules oversight committee. This report shall include:
(a) The ombudsman-citizens aide's mission statement.
(b) The number of matters that were within each of the categories specified in section 41-1379, subsection B.
(c) Legislative issues affecting the ombudsman-citizens aide.
(d) Selected case studies that illustrate the ombudsman-citizens aide's work and reasons for complaints.
(e) Ombudsman-citizens aide's contact statistics.
(f) A description of the public awareness and outreach activities conducted by the ombudsman-citizens aide.
(g) Ombudsman-citizens aide's staff.
3. Before conducting the first investigation, adopt rules that ensure that confidential information that is gathered will not be disclosed.
4. Appoint a deputy ombudsman and prescribe the duties of employees or, subject to appropriation, contract for the services of independent contractors necessary to administer the duties of the office of ombudsman-citizens aide. All staff serves at the pleasure of the ombudsman-citizens aide, and they are exempt from chapter 4, articles 5 and 6 of this title. All staff are subject to the conflict of interest provisions of title 38, chapter 3, article 8.
5. Before conducting the first investigation, adopt rules that establish procedures for receiving and processing complaints, including guidelines to ensure each complainant has exhausted all reasonable alternatives within the agency, conducting investigations, incorporating agency responses into recommendations and reporting findings.
6. Notify the chief executive or administrative officer of the agency in writing of the intention to investigate unless notification would unduly hinder the investigation or make the investigation ineffectual.
7. Appoint an assistant to help the ombudsman-citizens aide investigate complaints relating to the department of child safety. The assistant shall have expertise in the department of child safety procedures and laws. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the ombudsman-citizens aide and the assistant have access to the department of child safety records and direct remote access to any automated case management system used by the department of child safety.
8. 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 committee, or its successor committee, and the chairperson of the house of representatives judiciary committee, or its successor committee, that includes the number of complaints made regarding the state department of corrections, the topic of each complaint and how each complaint was resolved.
B. After the conclusion of an investigation and notice to the head of the agency pursuant to section 41-1379, the ombudsman-citizens aide may present the ombudsman-citizens aide's opinion and recommendations to the governor, the legislature, the office of the appropriate prosecutor or the public, or any combination of these persons. The ombudsman-citizens aide shall include in the opinion the reply of the agency, including those issues that were resolved as a result of the ombudsman-citizens aide's preliminary opinion or recommendation.
Sec. 2. Section 41-1604, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
41-1604. Duties and powers of director
A. The director shall:
1. Be responsible for the overall operations and policies of the department.
2. Maintain and administer all institutions and programs within the department, including prisons, reception and diagnostic centers, conservation camps, community correctional centers and such other facilities and programs as may be required and established for the custody, control, correction, treatment and rehabilitation of all adult offenders who are committed to the department.
3. Be responsible for the administration and execution of all community supervision services, including those for adult offenders who are released in accordance with law.
4. Develop a program to provide uniform statewide community supervision field services in this state and employ parole or community supervision officers based on qualifications prescribed by the director, including physical, psychological and educational qualifications and practical experience.
5. Be responsible for the development of policies and programs that shall be recommended to the governor and the legislature for the purpose of improving the various adult correctional programs of this state.
6. Develop and establish a uniform statewide method of reporting statistics as related to this chapter.
7. Subject to chapter 4, article 4 of this title, employ deputy directors and other key personnel based on qualifications prescribed by the director that require education and practical experience.
8. Adopt rules pursuant to chapter 6 of this title for the development of incentives to encourage good behavior and the faithful performance of work by prisoners.
9. Adopt rules pursuant to chapter 6 of this title to limit inmate access to the internet through the use of a computer, computer system, network, computer service provider or remote computing service.
10. Cooperate with the Arizona-Mexico commission in the governor's office and with researchers at universities in this state to collect data and conduct projects in the United States and Mexico on issues that are within the scope of the department's duties and that relate to quality of life, trade and economic development in this state in a manner that will help the Arizona-Mexico commission to assess and enhance the economic competitiveness of this state and of the Arizona-Mexico region.
11. 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 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:
(a) 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.
(b) The number of physical and sexual assaults in custody.
(c) The number of inmates who were placed in administrative segregation or solitary confinement and the duration of stay in segregation or confinement.
(d) The number of facility lockdowns that lasted longer than twenty-four hours.
(e) The number of staff, the tenure of each staff member, the staff turnover rate, staff vacancies and staff compensation at each facility.
(f) The number of inmates at each facility.
(g) The inmate-to-staff ratio at each facility.
(h) The number of in-person visits that were made for each inmate at each facility.
(i) The number of in-person visits that were denied for each inmate at each facility.
(j) 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.
B. The director may:
1. Adopt rules to implement the purposes of the department and the duties and powers of the director.
2. Take any administrative action to improve the efficiency of the department, including the following:
(a) Create new divisions or units or consolidate divisions or units.
(b) Subject to chapter 4, article 4 of this title, transfer employees between the various divisions and units of the department.
(c) Shift duties between divisions or units.
(d) Delegate to appropriate personnel the administrative functions, powers or duties that the director believes can be competently, efficiently and properly performed. The director shall not delegate the responsibilities in subsection A, paragraphs 1 and 5 of this section.
(e) Transfer adult inmates between adult institutions or adult facilities.
(f) Authorize work crews to perform acceptable tasks in any part of the this state.
(g) Accept unconvicted persons pursuant to a court order for the purposes of examination and treatment regarding competency to understand any stage of a criminal proceeding after indictment or information or their ability to assist in their own defense.
(h) Accept convicted yet unsentenced persons pursuant to a court order for the purposes of conducting a mental health examination or a diagnostic evaluation.
(i) Subject to chapter 4, article 4 and, as applicable, article 5 of this title, appoint certain employees of the department to peace officer status for the purposes of guarding, transporting or pursuing persons who are under the jurisdiction of the department and appoint certain employees of the department to peace officer status for the purposes of investigating or arresting persons who commit or attempt to commit offenses directly relating to the operations of the department. Peace officers of the department shall not preempt the authority and jurisdiction of established agencies of this state and political subdivisions of this state. Such officers shall notify agencies of this state and political subdivisions of this state before conducting an investigation within the jurisdiction of the agency and before making an arrest within the jurisdiction of the agency and shall ask, except in an emergency, if the agency wishes to participate, perform the investigation or arrest the person to be arrested before proceeding. Personnel who are appointed as peace officers by the director shall have the minimum qualifications established for peace officers pursuant to section 41-1822. Personnel who are appointed by the director pursuant to this subdivision are not eligible to participate in the public safety personnel retirement system except as otherwise provided in title 38, chapter 5, article 4.
(j) Operate travel reduction programs that are subsidized by the department for employees who commute between work and home by vanpools, carpools and buses or in vehicles that are purchased or leased by the department.
3. Establish by rule a one-time onetime fee for conducting background checks on any person who enters a department facility to visit a prisoner. A fee shall not be charged for a person who is under eighteen years of age. The director may adopt rules that waive all or part of the fee. The director shall deposit, pursuant to sections 35-146 and 35-147, any monies collected pursuant to this paragraph in the department of corrections building renewal fund established by section 41-797.
APPROVED BY THE GOVERNOR MARCH 29, 2024.
FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE MARCH 29, 2024.
