Question 3

Question 3: 

Shall The Philadelphia Home Rule Charter be amended to provide for the creation of an independent Philadelphia Prison Community Oversight Board and Office of Prison Oversight and to further authorize City Council to determine the composition, powers and duties of the Board and Office?

Statement from the Philadelphia City Commissioners: The City’s Home Rule Charter sets up the framework of City government, Under the current Charter, an advisory board called the Board of Trustees of Philadelphia Prisons adopts standards and guidelines for the City’s prisons.

If you vote “yes” on this ballot question, that means you approve replacing the Board of Trustees of Philadelphia Prisons with a new City office headed by the Director of Prison Oversight and a board called the Philadelphia Prison Community Oversight Board.

The Office of Prison Oversight would be responsible for reviewing policies, investigating practices, and recommending changes at the Department of Prisons. It would also support the work of the Philadelphia Prison Community Oversight Board.

The Board would hold regular public meetings and advise on how to make the City’s prisons operate better and more fairly.

Seventy Says:

Philadelphia’s chronically understaffed prisons have long been plagued by “disorder and violence,” inmate drug abuse, suicides, and untreated health crises, as well as a lack of physical maintenance. In response, Councilmember Isaiah Thomas (Democrat-At Large) proposed this ballot question to establish a Philadelphia Prison Community Oversight Board composed of four members appointed by the Mayor, four by the City Council President and one by the Controller. Each must be a resident of the City, cannot work for the prisons, police department, or sheriff’s office, and one must have been incarcerated previously.

We believe this would represent a meaningful step toward increased transparency, accountability and public engagement and put Philadelphia in line with other counties with similar oversight boards. But voter approval isn’t enough: City Council must then establish clear roles, responsibilities and powers from the start. We urge City Council to ensure that this oversight body has the structure, authority and resources it needs to succeed.