TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) - After years of talks in the Arizona legislature surrounding reform in the state prison system, a bill was signed into law in July to establish an independent oversight office for policy and safety within the Department of Corrections.

But funding concerns have slowed down how quickly this program will go into effect, leaving many advocates and employees concerned. That is especially true after recent incidents of violence in the Tucson state prison complex.

“I think it had a lot to do with the events that happened in Tucson in April,” Middle Ground Prison Reform director Donna Leone Hamm said, “You have to back up a bit and say, ‘well, what’s going on that allowed those things to happen?’”

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