HB 2553 Summary

• Establishes an independent Office of the Corrections Ombudsman within the Arizona Department of Corrections to inspect facilities, investigate inmate complaints, and monitor conditions of confinement.

• Creates a Correctional Ombudsman Committee with 12 voting members including legislators, inmate advocates, formerly incarcerated individuals, medical professionals, and family members of formerly incarcerated persons, plus one nonvoting representative of correctional staff.

• Grants the ombudsman authority to access all facilities, inmates, and department records without prior notice; conduct private, confidential communications with inmates; and issue subpoenas for department compliance.

• Requires the office to investigate complaints related to sanitation, nutrition, safety, abuse, denial of rights, medical/mental health care, visitation, and access to rehabilitative programming, with protections against retaliation.

• Appropriates 0.1% of the annual Department of Corrections budget for the office's fiscal year 2025-2026 operations, with the office and committee to terminate on July 1, 2035 unless reauthorized.