The Prison Oversight Commission created by Governor Katie Hobbs (D) in January reportedly lacks the “teeth” necessary to enact change, a former Arizona lawmaker said on Wednesday. The commission’s report suggests Hobbs lead the creation of a new state agency to oversee prisons, even as Hobbs faces a lawsuit over her refusal to appoint directors of the state’s existing agencies.
Former Arizona State Representative Walt Blackman (pictured above), a Republican who represented Snowflake until 2023, said the volunteer commission on which he serves, established by Hobbs on January 25, lacks the “teeth” necessary to mandate and enforce policy changes in Arizona’s prisons, according to Arizona Capitol Times.
A January press release from the Hobbs administration explained her “Commission is tasked with inspecting prison facilities and records, and talking with staff and inmates for the purpose of monitoring and reporting information on topics including: Accessibility and quality of mental health and medical care and drug treatment programs, and accessibility to basic necessities such as nutrition, medicine, sanitary products and sufficient number of qualified staff.”
The commission’s eventual findings reportedly declared that this type of oversight is not possible from within Hobbs’ office, Capitol Times reported. Instead, the commission suggested a new government agency should be created, modeled after the Auditor General’s Office, which would allow the commission “to accomplish meaningful and credible work” to reform the state’s prison system.
The outlet explained that Blackman, who tried to create a body responsible for overseeing the state’s prisons in 2022 but failed, is now working with Representative Analise Ortiz (D-Phoenix), another member of the commission, to advance similar legislation. Ortiz suggested rising crime and costs related to the prison system have “finally reached a point where there could be bipartisan support for more oversight,” according to the outlet.
However, Hobbs reportedly “is refusing to commit herself” to the idea. Instead of responding to the report’s contents, her office instead issued a statement to the Capitol Times which thanked the commission for its “steadfast efforts examining our prison system and the commitment to improve it” without making any firm statements about next steps.
The report calling for a new Arizona agency comes as Hobbs faces a lawsuit from the Arizona Senate over her refusal to nominate candidates to run the state’s existing agencies. The lawsuit was launched after Hobbs appointed “Executive Deputy Directors” in a bid to bypass normal Senate confirmation procedures after one of her nominees was rejected due to an alleged pattern of widespread plagiarism in her professional work in September.
That lawsuit, led by Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert), claims Hobbs “violated a bonding statutory directed, acted in excess of her lawful authority, and failed to perform” her constitutionally imposed duty to “promptly presenting nominees for agency directorships to the Senate for its advice and consent.”
Hobbs’ apparent inaction on prison oversight comes despite the governor’s decision not to retain the directors of the Arizona Department of Public Safety and Arizona Department of Corrections.
Following her inauguration, Hobbs installed Col. Jeffrey Glover, a former Tempe police officer, to lead the Department of Public Safety, Ryan Thornell, a former deputy commissioner for the Maine Department of Corrections, to lead Arizona’s correctional system.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
