SB1507 Summary

• Establishes the Independent Correctional Oversight Office as a new state agency with a director appointed by the governor for a five-year term to monitor conditions and compliance in correctional facilities.

• Removes the requirement for the Department of Corrections director to submit annual reports to the legislature on inmate deaths, assaults, segregation, lockdowns, staffing, and grievances, transferring these reporting duties to the new oversight office.

• Grants the oversight office authority to investigate complaints from inmates, families, employees, and contractors regarding abuse, neglect, conditions of confinement, and alleged violations of law, with power to access all department facilities and records.

• Requires the oversight office to submit comprehensive annual reports by December 31 to legislative leadership covering complaint data, investigations, inmate deaths, medical incidents, mental health assessments, staffing information, and department compliance with rehabilitation and release credit programs.

• Establishes the Corrections Oversight Fund through legislative appropriations and private grants to support office operations, with director and staff protected from civil liability except for gross negligence or intentional wrongful conduct.