New Jersey § 52:27ee-28

§ 52:27ee-28.

The corrections ombudsperson shall conduct inspections of State correctional facilities

in accordance with the provisions of this section. a. The ombudsperson shall conduct regular inspections of all department facilities

and issue public reports of all inspections. b. Except for ongoing criminal investigations, Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA)

investigations, or other information, records, or investigations deemed confidential

by the Special Investigations Division of the department, and with the exception of

Special Investigations Division evidence rooms, the ombudsperson may inspect, examine,

or assess all aspects of a facility's operations and conditions including, but not

limited to: (1) staff recruitment, training, supervision, and discipline; (2) inmate deaths or serious injuries; (3) incidences of physical and sexual assault; (4) medical and mental health care; (5) use of force; (6) inmate violence; (7) conditions of confinement; (8) inmate disciplinary processes; (9) inmate grievance processes; (10) substance use disorder treatment; (11) educational, vocational, and other programming; (12) family visitation and communication practices; and (13) rehabilitation, reentry, and integration practices. c. Except as provided in subsection b. of this section, the ombudsperson shall utilize

a range of methods to gather and substantiate facts, including observations, interviews

with inmates, inmate surveys, document and record reviews, reports, statistics, and

performance-based outcome measures. d. Facility and other governmental officials are authorized and shall be required

to cooperate fully and promptly with inspections. e. Except as provided in subsection b. of this section, the ombudsperson shall be

vested with the authority to conduct both scheduled and unannounced inspections of

any part or all of the facility at any time. The ombudsperson shall adopt procedures to ensure that unannounced inspections are

conducted in a reasonable manner. f. Facility administrators shall be provided an opportunity to review reports and

provide feedback about them to the ombudsperson before their dissemination to the

public, but the release of the reports is not subject to approval from any entity

or person outside the office. g. Reports shall apply legal requirements, best correctional practices, and other

criteria to objectively and accurately review and assess a facility's policies, procedures,

programs, and practices; identify systemic problems and the reasons for them; and

proffer possible solutions to those problems. h. Subject to reasonable privacy and security requirements, or as may be necessary

to protect the safety or privacy of persons or the safe, secure, and orderly operation

of State correctional facilities, as determined by the department or the Special Investigations

Division, the ombudsperson's reports shall be public, accessible through the Internet,

and distributed to the media, Legislature, Attorney General, and Governor. i. Facility administrators shall publicly respond to monitoring reports; develop and

implement in a timely fashion action plans to rectify problems identified in those

reports; and semi-annually inform the public of their progress in implementing these action plans. j. The ombudsperson shall continue to assess and report on previously identified problems

and the progress made in resolving them until the problems are resolved.