Report Title:

Corrections

Description:

Requires the auditor to conduct a financial and management audit of each commissary located in a Hawaii correctional facility, as well as commissaries located at out-of-state contracted correctional facilities where Hawaii inmates are confined.  Also requires the auditor to conduct performance audits of private prisons on the mainland that house Hawaii prisoners.  (HB2007 HD1)

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2007
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO CORRECTIONS.

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

PART I

SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that commissaries at state correctional facilities provide an opportunity for inmates to purchase goods for personal use, such as sundries, hygiene products, food, and other items.  Because the costs of items at commissaries that are located in jails and prisons are higher than retail prices, the legislature is concerned that mark ups on commissary items are excessive.

The purpose of this part is to require the auditor to conduct a financial and management audit of the operations of the department of public safety's commissaries, as well as the commissary operations of out-of-state contracted correctional facilities where Hawaii inmates are confined.

     SECTION 2.  The office of the auditor shall conduct a financial and management audit of the department of public safety's commissary operations, as well as the operations of commissaries in out-of-state contracted correctional facilities where Hawaii inmates are confined that shall include but not be limited to determining:

     (1)  The total annual revenues generated from the sales of commissary items during the prior fiscal year;

     (2)  The total annual expenditures incurred for the operation and maintenance of each commissary during the prior fiscal year;

     (3)  The criteria used to select the type of items that are stocked and made available at commissaries; and

     (4)  The method used to determine the price of items sold to inmates at commissaries.

     SECTION 3.  The office of the auditor shall submit a report of its findings and any recommendations of the financial and management audit, including any proposed legislation, to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session 2009.

PART II

     SECTION 4.  The legislature finds that since the passage of mandatory minimum sentences for crystal methamphetamine violations, Hawaii's prison population has dramatically increased.  This rise in inmate population has caused Hawaii to contract with out-of-state private prisons to ease overcrowding.

     The legislature also finds that, in 1996, Hawaii transferred 300 prisoners out of the state, and the number of transfers has been rapidly rising ever since.  Ten years later in 2006, Hawaii had 1,844 prisoners housed in private prisons on the mainland.  Today, Hawaii has over 2000 prisoners serving their sentences in Corrections Corporation of America prisons in Arizona and Kentucky.

     The legislature further finds that there has never been an audit of the private mainland prisons that Hawaii has contracted with to house the State's inmates, despite the fact that deaths and serious injuries have occurred at several of the contract prisons on the mainland.

     The purpose of this part is to require performance audits of private prisons on the mainland housing Hawaii prisoners with regard to the issues of delivery of services, visitation, and the department of public safety's monitoring of those contracts.

     SECTION 5.  The office of the auditor shall conduct a performance audit of each private prison on the mainland that houses Hawaii inmates, including the Red Rock Correctional Facility and Saguaro Correctional Facility in Eloy, Arizona, and Otter Creek Correctional Facility in Wheelwright, Kentucky.  The performance audits shall cover:

     (1)  Treatment and services provided to Hawaii inmates, including:

         (A)  Medical services;

         (B)  Mental health services;

         (C)  Substance abuse treatment;

         (D)  Education;

         (E)  Vocational training; and

         (F)  Food services;

     (2)  Facilitation of family and community connections, including:

         (A)  Visitation;

         (B)  Videoconferencing; and

         (C)  Telephone communication;

          and

     (3)  The department of public safety's execution of its statutory duties, including:

         (A)  Monitoring of private prisons;

         (B)  Enforcement of contract provisions; and

         (C)  Public access to contracts and monitoring reports.

     SECTION 6.  The auditor shall report findings and recommendations to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2009.

PART III

     SECTION 7.  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 2008-2009 for the auditor to conduct the performance audit mandated under part II of this Act.

     The sum appropriated shall be expended by the auditor for the purposes of this Act.

     SECTION 8.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2008.