Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 154 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to request the Auditor to conduct an audit of the Diamondback Correctional Facility in Oklahoma.

Your Committee received testimony in support of the resolution from the Community Alliance of Prisons and one individual. The Department of Public Safety, the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, and one concerned citizen submitted comments.

Your Committee finds that the State's practice of housing local inmates in private correctional facilities on the mainland has gone on for several years. Although this arrangement has saved the State thousands of dollars, it has also meant that the State must rely on private contractors thousands of miles away to properly house and care for local inmates. The sheer distance between Hawaii and these inmates necessarily complicates any problems that may arise with respect to these prisoners.

Your Committee also finds that allegations of inmate mistreatment and the misappropriation of funds dedicated to inmate welfare have recently surfaced at the Diamondback Correctional Facility in Oklahoma. Although inquiries into these improprieties have been made, satisfactory resolution of these complaints have not been reached. Considering the proximity of these inmates and the inability of past attempts to resolve the alleged problems at the Diamondback Facility, your Committee finds that an audit of the contract between the State and the Diamondback Facility is necessary to not only ensure the health and safety of Hawaii's inmates, but to also ensure the efficient and lawful expenditure of state funds.

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 concurs with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 154 and recommends that it be referred to the Committee on Finance.