By admin 
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — An independent oversight office created to bring accountability to Arizona’s prison system has no funding a year after it was signed into law. The Independent Correctional Oversight Office exists only on paper. Without funding, it has no office and no staff.
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The office was stripped of funding just before the bill creating it passed last year with widespread bipartisan support. Advocates hoped money would be allocated in next year’s budget, but as negotiations continue, they worry it won’t happen.
Prison system concerns continue
Arizona’s prison system has faced concerns for years about understaffing and overcrowding. Earlier this year, a federal judge ordered a third-party takeover of prison health care, writing that inadequate care was leading to suffering and preventable deaths.
Veronica Baca’s son Daniel is incarcerated at Arizona State Prison Complex Yuma. She said his medical needs are not being met. She worries about his safety and, in the summer, about the lack of air conditioning.
“Very important that they address the inmates’ needs. They’re not wants, they’re needs,” Baca said.
Baca said she made complaints about her concerns, but nothing has been addressed.
Advocates push for funding
The Independent Correctional Oversight Office was created by state lawmakers last year to help reform the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, and Reentry.
“Unfortunately, it exists on paper only because there’s no funding,” Estrella Lopez of the Justice Action Network said.
Lopez’s organization is pushing for $1.5 million in next year’s budget for the oversight office. She said the state spends nearly $1.5 billion each year on its prison system.
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“Given the costs that the state has been made to bear with lawsuits and now with federal receivership, it’s just really a great investment that will avert future costs,” Lopez said.
State Sen. Shawnna Bolick, R-Phoenix, and state Rep. Walt Blackman, R-Snowflake, sponsored the bill and continue to push for the office to be funded in next year’s budget.
“In the long run I think it’s a really great investment. It potentially helps buffer, so the feds don’t come and take our prisons over and obviously we want to make sure we’re protecting as many lives as possible. It’s really tough being a correctional officer,” Bolick said.
Baca had a message for state legislators: “Fix what is broken. Take care of the issues that need address.”
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