On May 20th, 2025,Philadelphians approved Ballot Question #3 to approve an Office of Prison Oversight and Philadelphia Prison Community Oversight Board.
Residents can refer to this website to stay informed of official updates.
BACKGROUND
For years, Philadelphia’s prisons have been under scrutiny for critical understaffing, inmate overdoses and deaths, high profile escapes, general maintenance challenges, and poor hygiene.
Philadelphia City Councilmember and Majority Whip Isaiah Thomas (D- At Large), after nearly two years of stakeholder engagement, introduced and passed legislation proposing the creation of a Philadelphia Prison Community Oversight Board and an Office of Prison Oversight.
Since Ballot Question #3 was approved by you - the people - the Office of Prison Oversight will be responsible for increasing transparency and accountability in Philadelphia Department of Prisons, monitoring facilities, accessing databases and documents, meeting with staff and incarcerated individuals, and developing community education programs. The Philadelphia Prison Community Oversight Board will hold monthly public meetings and provide recommendations to the Office and the Department of Prisons on policy and best practices.
IN THE NEWS
- Opinion: The Philadelphia Prison Advisory Board is a farce
- Philly's prison system needs new oversight board to fix staffing problems, overcrowding, councilmember says
- Opinion: Philadelphia’s prisons are in crisis. Mayor and Council need to act. | Editorial
- City Council will consider a community oversight board for Philadelphia's prisons
- City Council members push for prison oversight committee, housing-centered solutions to homelessness, addiction
- Philadelphia City Council approves new prison oversight structure
- City Council approves prison oversight legislation, ballot question – Metro Philadelphia
- Philly could create a prison oversight board next year. Here's what it would do
- Prison abuse, deaths and escapes prompt calls for more oversight
RESOURCES
- Read the legislation:
- WATCH: Prison Oversight Committee Hearing
- WATCH: A panel discussion hosted by the Committee of Seventy featuring Philadelphia City Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, Morgan Robinson - President of the League of Women Voters of Philadelphia, Noah Barth - Prison Monitoring Director for the Pennsylvania Prison Society, and moderated by Dr. Kerry Sautner, President and CEO of Eastern State Penitentiary.
Paid for by the Council of the City of Philadelphia