STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1846

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2007

RE:   S.B. No. 917

      S.D. 1

      H.D. 2

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred S.B. No. 917, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC SAFETY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to improve Hawaii's correctional services by:

     (1)  Requiring the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to develop a plan to return all female prisoners who are residents of Hawaii and who have been sent to the mainland for incarceration;

     (2)  Requiring DPS to perform a study to explore and determine three sites in the state for a minimum-security prison facility;

     (3)  Requiring DPS and the Office of Planning to study the feasibility of selling or leasing the Oahu Community Correctional Center to build a new facility in a different location to accommodate and manage the continued growth of the inmate population; and

     (4)  Require the mainland branch of the Corrections Division of DPS to improve its monitoring and reporting about the conditions of Hawaii residents held in mainland prisons under the Interstate Corrections Compact.

     The Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Community Alliance on Prisons, Government Efficiency Teams, Inc., Hawaii Substance Abuse Coalition, and several concerned individuals testified in support of this bill.  DPS opposed this measure.  A concerned individual offered comments.

     Your Committee has amended this bill by:

     (1)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2020, to encourage further discussion; and

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Finance that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 917, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 917, S.D. 1, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Finance,

____________________________

MARCUS R. OSHIRO, Chair