STAND. COM. REP. NO. 355-00

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 2000

                                 RE: H.B. No. 2741
                                     H.D. 1




Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2000
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs, to
which was referred H.B. No. 2741 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PRIVATELY-OPERATED
     CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to allow the governor to
contract for private sector operation of correctional facilities.
The bill also establishes criteria necessary for an acceptable
contract for privatized operation of a correctional facility.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure
from the Department of Public Safety, the Hawaii Island Economic
Development Board, the Hawaii Island Portugese Chamber of
Commerce, the Hawaii Leeward Planning Conference, the Kanoelehua
Industrial Area Association, several members of Out of Prison
Services, and Monet Consulting.  The Department of Public Safety
proposed many amendments to this measure.  Your Committee
received testimony in opposition to this measure from the United
Public Workers, the Hawaii Government Employees Association, the
Community Alliance on Prisons, the `Ilio`ulaokalani Coalition,
and the Ka Lahui Political Action Committee.

     Your Committee finds that if a private prison is to be
allowed then it is important for the state to proceed very
cautiously and to require that the contract meet the strict
conditions described within this measure.


 
 
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     Althought too voluminous to summarize its entire contents,
this measure contains language that:

     (1)  Authorizes the governor to enter into and excute
          contracts with any private entity to operate minimum
          security correctional facilities at sites selected by
          the governor within the state;

     (2)  Specifies the facility will be a minimum security
          design to be operated as an intensive treatment
          facility for those inmates in need of substance abuse
          treatment.  According to each offender's needs, the
          facility shall also provide a wide array of culturally
          and gender appropriate programs, mental health
          services, group counseling, anger management programs,
          transitional programs, cognitive restructuring,
          remedial education and vocational training;

     (3)  Establishes a citizens oversight committee involved in
          the siting, design, and monitoring of any facility
          contracted under this measure;

     (4)  Forbids inmates from out-of-state facilities to be
          transferred to the private facility;

     (5)  Allows for various forms of oversight and inspection by
          the auditor, the state procurement officer, and the
          media;

     (6)  Strictly limits the input of the private operator
          concerning which offenders are housed in the facility
          and when the inmates are to leave the facility;

     (7)  Describes the division of authority between the
          operator and the state concerning security, escapes,
          and emergencies;

     (8)  Requires the facility to comply with all national,
          state, and local regulations, laws and accreditation
          standards;

     (9)  Exempts the private correctional facility from chapters
          42D, 42F, and 103F, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

     (10) Financially rewards the private operator for preparing
          inmates for successful reintegration to free society
          and financially penalizes the private operator for
          those inmates that are not successful;


 
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                                 Page 3

 
     Your Committee has amended this measure to include new
language that:

     (1)  Grants a ten per cent preference to providers of
          services and rehabilitative programs that take into
          account the cultural needs of the prison population;

     (2)  Restricts the transfer of federal inmates to the
          private facility to those transfers approved by the
          director;

     (3)  Makes acts that are criminal in a public facility
          criminal within a private facility;

     (4)  Describes necessary requirements for use-of-force
          policy and firearm use by private facility staff;

     (5)  Makes any movement not covered in this measure the
          legal equivalent of an escape;

     (6)  Expanded the oversight committee to include the police
          chief of the county where the facility is located;

     (7)  Authorizes the ombudsman to act in matters regarding
          the private correctional facility;

     (8)  Directs the director to certify the security level of
          the facility; and

     (9)  Makes various technical amendments for the purpose of
          clarity and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs that is attached
to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and
purpose of H.B. No. 2741, as amended herein, and recommends that
it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No.
2741, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committees on Labor and
Public Employment and Finance.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Public Safety and
                                   Military Affairs,



                                   ______________________________
                                   NESTOR R. GARCIA, Chair