Oversight Resources

Recent Developments in Prison Oversight in the US: Building Bipartisan Momentum (2018-2026)

Description:

This Policy Brief reviews recent developments in the correctional oversight field in the United States, with particular attention to how bipartisan cooperation has shaped the creation of these bodies, and how their design and funding determine their effectiveness. The brief provides profiles of the nine states that have established independent prison oversight bodies since 2018, as well as the Federal Prison Oversight Act, and highlights other notable developments. The analysis reveals that the establishment of an oversight body is a significant first step, but its long-term impact depends on whether lawmakers pair enabling legislation with the resources and support necessary for meaningful implementation.

Sydney Mike-Mayer and Michele Deitch, Policy Brief: “Recent Developments in Prison Oversight in the United States: Building Bipartisan Momentum (2018-2026),” Prison and Jail Innovation Lab, The University of Texas at Austin, 2026.

The Correctional Healthcare RFP Toolkit

Description:

• Preparing to draft an RFP
• Drafting the RFP using the provided template
• Issuing the RFP
• Evaluating vendor responses
• Negotiating a contract based on the RFP

Policy Research Associates, Inc. (2025). Toolkit for writing an RFP to contract for healthcare services in a correctional or detention institution. prainc.com/resource-library/correctional-healthcare-rfp-toolkit. To send us any questions, suggested revisions, or to request assistance with the Toolkit, please contact: Ashley Krider, Policy Research Associates, Inc., akrider@prainc.com.

But Who Oversees the Overseers? The Status of Prison and Jail Oversight in the United States

Description:

This in-depth article provides comprehensive background information about the nature, value, and history of correctional oversight; documents the shifting landscape and increasing momentum around the oversight issue over the last decade; highlights key distinctions between prison and jail oversight; and provides a comprehensive assessment of the state of prison and jail oversight in the U.S. today. The article includes tables listing and categorizing every correctional oversight body in the United States as of 2020.

Deitch, Michele. “But Who Oversees the Overseers? The Status of Prison and Jail Oversight in the United States.” American Journal of Criminal Law 47, no. 2 (2020): 207–74.

In Their Own Words [Video]

Summary:

Cruel and Not Unusual: Can America’s Prisons and Jails Change, and, If So, How?

Summary:

The Prison and Jail Innovation Lab hosted a two-day symposium that brought together the country’s leading experts on prison and jail conditions to reflect on some of the most critical and challenging issues in the field. Participants discussed what can be done to address the seemingly intractable horrific conditions in certain correctional systems, including the role of correctional oversight in addressing these issues, and debated whether meaningful reform of America’s prisons and jails is truly possible. 

Recordings of three of the conference panels are posted online:

• Session 1: The Depths of Deliberate Indifference: Rikers, Alabama, Arizona, and Texas
• Session 2: The Levers of Change: What does it take to turn an institution around?
• Session 3: Profiles of Culture Change in U.S. Prisons

Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Prisons

Summary:

The U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing on Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Witnesses testifying at the hearing included Colette Peters, Director of the Bureau of Prisons, Shane Fausey, President of Council of Prison Locals, John Wetzel, CEO Phronema Justice Strategies (and former Director of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections), and Cecilia Cardenas, formerly incarcerated person. The day before this hearing, Senators Jon Ossoff (GA) and Dick Durbin (IL) filed, “The Federal Prison Oversight Act of 2022.”