Office of the Corrections Ombudsperson (OCO)
Budget
$2,806,000 (FY 2025)
Staffing
26 staff members; the office is led by Ombudsman Terry Schuster.
State Prison Profile
New Jersey has 9 state prison facilities subject to OCO oversight and it incarcerates approximately 13,000 people in state prisons. The state prison system is run by the New Jersey Department of Corrections (NJDOC).
Authority
P.L. 2019, c.288 (A3979 ACS 1R) (njleg.gov)
- Structure: The OCO is an independent agency housed in the Department of the Treasury. The Corrections Ombudsperson is appointed by the Governor and serves a five-year term. The Ombudsperson and assistants, along with their spouses, cannot have any business or lobbying connection to the NJDOC.
- Advisory Board: A citizens’ board appointed by the Governor, President of the Senate, and Speaker of the General Assembly helps advise the OCO; its nine members must include experts on investigations, health care, sexual assault victims’ advocacy, social work, occupational safety and health, and research or data analysis. At least one advisory board member must be formerly incarcerated or a family member of someone who is incarcerated. Currently, the board is awaiting two new appointments to fill vacancies.
- Authorized Activities: The OCO is responsible for receiving and responding to corrections-related complaints, including the maintenance of a toll-free phone line, and can investigate complaints at its discretion. After an investigation, the OCO can request an update from the NJDOC on actions taken in response to its recommendations, and it is directed by statute to escalate significant issues to the Governor and Legislature. Connected to this complaint-receiving role, the OCO is charged with providing information to incarcerated individuals, their family, and advocates, and with providing support for self-advocacy. The OCO also has a monitoring role; it is responsible for monitoring prisons’ compliance with laws, rules, and regulations related to health, safety, welfare, and rehabilitation through regular scheduled or unannounced inspections. By statute, the OCO must also monitor and participate in corrections-related legislative and policy developments and gather stakeholder input into OCO activities.
- Facility and Information Access: The OCO is granted broad access to correctional facilities and records, including facility access for unannounced inspections and a right to all relevant documents for investigations or inspections. The OCO has the authority to regularly and privately interview staff and incarcerated people and to subpoena witnesses and documents.
- Privacy: Communication with the OCO is confidential and privileged like legal communication.
Activities
The OCO receives, investigates, and seeks to address individual complaints about conditions and treatment in New Jersey’s prisons; conducts routine inspections of prison facilities; researches systemic issues; and engages with the community about these issues.
- Complaints and Investigations: OCO receives roughly 250 contacts per week, most of which are handled either by providing the caller with information or by the OCO informally resolving the matter with NJDOC. An average of four OCO staff are on-site in all NJDOC facilities each weekday to observe conditions and respond to complaints and inquiries. In 2020, OCO’s investigative authority was significantly expanded and since then, when possible, staff members meet face-to-face with incarcerated people who expressed concerns related to their living conditions, safety, health, or general well-being. In 2024, the OCO met with incarcerated people more than 1,300 times.
- Inspections and Research: The OCO currently has a field team of 11 staff members responsible for triaging and troubleshooting individual-level concerns about NJDOC facility conditions and operations. OCO also researches systemic issues across the state through data analysis, surveys, audits, policy workgroups, and other tools.
- Community Engagement: The OCO holds required quarterly public meetings. Additionally, the OCO holds a large virtual town hall and five regional town halls to share its Annual Report and to gather public input about priorities for the Office’s oversight activities.
Reports
Annual Reports; State Prison Facility Inspections; Facility Inspection Tools; Special Reports. Publicly available here.
- Inspection Reports: describe the findings, recommendations, and NJDOC responses from announced and unannounced monitoring inspections of individual facilities. For example, the OCO’s inspection report about Northern State Prison in October 2024 found the recently reopened restorative housing unit struggled with flooding, sewage and wastewater spillage, temperature control, drug use and failure to provide timely access to medications and health care.
- Special Issue Reports: topical reports on specific issues across multiple facilities. Recent reports have focused on extreme heat and cold temperatures, medical care, visitation, and denial of phone calls as punishment.
Organizational History
OCO was founded in 1972 to help identify and resolve complaints and issues of concern in New Jersey prisons. In 2005, OCO became part of the Department of the Public Advocate. In 2010, when the Department of the Public Advocate was abolished, OCO was transferred to the Office of the Governor, housed in – but not made part of – the Department of the Treasury. In 2020, in response to public concern about violence and sexual victimization in the state’s prisons, lawmakers passed the Dignity Act, significantly expanding OCO’s authority, powers, and budget, and the organization was given a broad mandate to investigate and monitor correctional issues in New Jersey. Beginning in 2022, the new Corrections Ombudsperson began expanding the office’s work under those new investigative and inspection powers.
News Stories:
Phone restrictions behind bars sting, especially near holidays, advocates say
New Jersey Monitor, Nov. 28, 2024
Another report finds faults inside NJ prison
NJ Spotlight, Oct. 9, 2024
‘It can get bad so fast.’ N.J. prison watchdog sounds alarm on fragile system in new report
(NJ.com, December 3, 2025)