AZ HB2754

Establishes a Correctional Oversight Committee consisting of 13 members including legislators, public members, formerly incarcerated persons, a prisoner advocacy representative, a criminal justice professor, a corrections officer association representative, and a retired corrections official.

Committee members serve three-year terms, meet quarterly or as needed, and have authority to visit facilities, interview inmates, review records, and receive testimony on grievances, medical care, solitary confinement, mental health services, food services, and other prison conditions.

Requires the committee to appoint a corrections ombudsman responsible for overseeing the department's internal affairs and disciplinary processes, with obstruction of ombudsman investigations constituting a class 1 misdemeanor.

Committee must submit an annual report by October 15 to the governor, legislature, secretary of state, and public with recommendations for improving prison conditions and operations.

Appropriates $250,000 from the state general fund for fiscal year 2020-2021 to support the committee's operations, and the committee expires July 1, 2028.