HB3 HD1

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	3
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating to prisons.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that Hawaii's prison system is bursting at the seams with a swelling inmate population. Since 1995, the department of public safety has been transporting prisoners to facilities in Oklahoma, Texas, Oregon, Minnesota, Arizona, and Tennessee. Approximately eighteen hundred Hawaii inmates are housed in out-of-state correctional facilities each year. That number is nearly half of the Hawaii prison population. Although this is a temporary solution, the State cannot afford to transport inmates to mainland facilities indefinitely.

According to the department of public safety's 2004 annual report, forty-one per cent of male inmates and forty-four per cent of female inmates are classified as minimum-security or community-custody-level inmates.

However, due to budget constraints, Hawaii has only two minimum-security prisons, Waiawa correctional facility on Oahu and Kulani correctional facility on the island of Hawaii. Both Waiawa and Kulani often exceed their operational capacity.

The legislature finds that a study is needed to determine the best possible sites in the state for a new minimum-security prison facility.

The purpose of this Act is to require the department of public safety to conduct a study to determine the best possible sites in the state for a new minimum-security prison facility.

SECTION 2. (a) The department of public safety shall undertake a study that will include:

(1) Projections of the housing needs for the minimum-security inmate population over the next four years broken down by island, community, and in what prison facilities they will be housed;

(2) The recommended maximum size of a minimum security prison facility and the corresponding land size to meet requirements, with the goal of establishing and enacting best management practices and operational efficiencies; and

(3) A determination of what island should be the first to build a new minimum-security prison, including:

(A) Recommendations for a proposed site on the selected island; and

(B) A report on steps to acquire the site and associated costs for the department to pursue community outreach, environmental assessments, and plans and design;

(b) The department of public safety shall complete the study mandated in subsection (a) by December 15, 2007, and shall submit a report to the legislature of its findings and recommendations no later than January 1, 2008, including any proposed legislation to implement the recommendations found in the report.

SECTION 3. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2007-2008 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2008-2009 for the department of public safety to conduct a study to determine the best possible sites in the state for a new minimum-security prison facility.

The sums appropriated shall be expended by the department of public safety for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2007.