STAND. COM. REP. NO. 108

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 919

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Public Safety, to which was referred S.B. No. 919 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CORRECTIONS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to require the mainland branch of the Department of Public Safety's Corrections Division to monitor and report on the condition of Hawaii resident inmates housed in mainland prisons under the Interstate Corrections Compact.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by Community Alliance on Prisons and two private individuals.  The Department of Public Safety submitted testimony in opposition.

     Your Committee finds that it is unfortunate that the State is forced to send Hawaii residents to the mainland for incarceration due to the lack of local facilities that are able to accommodate the volume and special needs of our inmate population.  Incarcerating inmates on the mainland puts a great distance between families and friends as well as our own corrections agency, making the monitoring of the incarcerated person's health, progress in rehabilitation, and other concerns very difficult.

     Your Committee further finds that the correctional facilities housing Hawaii resident inmates under the Interstate Corrections Compact are state run facilities that are subject to the laws and standards of the respective states.  This does not, however, relieve the State of Hawaii of its ultimate responsibility for monitoring Hawaii inmates' conditions at these facilities.

     Your Committee further finds that although there are reporting requirements under the Interstate Corrections Compact, reporting is inconsistent as to frequency and content.    Currently there are twelve Hawaii residents incarcerated at six different Interstate Corrections Compact facilities.  Some of these facilities report on a quarterly basis, while others report only annually. 

     This measure has been amended to require the Department of Public Safety to submit a standardized, quarterly report on each Hawaii resident incarcerated under the Interstate Corrections Compact.  The report must contain information regarding the incarcerated person's health, behavioral or disciplinary issues, progress in rehabilitative programs, and any complaints filed by the incarcerated person and how the complaint has been resolved.

     This measure was further amended by removing the requirement for quarterly onsite visits to each of the inmates and deleting the appropriation suggested for such visits.  Technical nonsubstantive changes have been made for the purposes of clarity and consistency. 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 919, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 919, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety,

____________________________

WILL ESPERO, Chair