HB321

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the State has not built a new prison in nearly two decades. For the past fifteen years, state officials have pursued various plans for adding prison space in Hawaii, ranging from a proposal for a massive new two thousand three hundred bed lockup at Kulani on the Big Island to more modest five hundred bed secure treatment facilities on Oahu. However, rather than building new facilities, the State has been exporting inmates to privately operated mainland prisons since 1995 in lieu of building a new in-state prison.

The legislature also finds that prison officials say there simply is no room for Hawaii inmates in local prisons and that it is far cheaper to hold them on the mainland at a rate of $58 per inmate per day compared to $105 per inmate per day in Hawaii. The State has been paying $40,000,000 annually for the Corrections Corporation of America to confine about one thousand nine hundred convicts on the mainland. In 2006, the legislature set aside an additional $12,000,000 to transfer six hundred seventy-six more inmates, boosting that total to more than two thousand five hundred inmates. Those inmates would all be moved to southern Arizona under a plan to consolidate all Hawaii inmates in three Arizona facilities. The new contracts cover three years, with an option for another two.

The legislature also finds that, notwithstanding the apparent short term savings realized by transferring inmates to the mainland, the State can no longer afford to postpone the construction of correctional facilities. As overcrowding continues, the State is increasingly vulnerable to charges of civil rights violations and to security risks. Further, placement of Hawaii inmates at mainland prisons has not been problem-free. For example, there have been allegations of sexual assault of female prisoners, denial of timely medical treatment, and civil rights violations. Moreover, the lack of close-by family support, which is an integral part of any successful re-entry into local society, hinders rehabilitation. It has been stated that the rate of recidivism of mainland housed prisoners committing subsequent crimes is ninety per cent, compared to a rate of recidivism of forty-seven to fifty-seven per cent for those imprisoned here.

The legislature further finds that a great majority of all prisoners incarcerated by the State have committed crimes relating to drugs or engaged in other crimes to support existing drug and substance-abuse habits. Simple incarceration without treatment will only lead to recidivism and magnify the problem rather than lead to a reduction of the scourge of drug and substance abuse. Although placing Hawaii inmates in mainland prisons is a temporary solution until adequate facilities are built, the State cannot afford to continue this practice indefinitely. It is in the public interest to design and build a new correctional facility to emphasize programs that will address, as a priority, the provision of treatment programs for substance-abuse and mental health treatment.

The purpose of this Act is to direct the executive branch to immediately initiate the planning and design process to develop a correctional facility to house fifteen hundred to two thousand inmates and provide intensive drug and substance-abuse and other mental health treatment on a site proposed by the director of public safety.

SECTION 2. (a) Within ninety days of the effective date of this Act, the director of public safety shall enter into a contract with a certified or accredited correctional design professional for the planning and preliminary design for a one thousand to one thousand two hundred bed correctional treatment facility. The design professional shall be selected pursuant to section 103D-304. The correctional treatment facility shall be a secure correctional facility designed to provide intensive in-house rehabilitation programs for the treatment of chemical dependency and abuse and other mental health problems.

(b) The correctional treatment facility shall be designed to be operated by the State with the ability to provide a total continuum of programs that address education, prevention, and treatment, and are directed at achieving the prevention of drug and substance abuse and the resolution of other mental health problems.

(c) By February 1, 2008, the director of public safety shall report to the legislature, including in the report the following:

(1) The preliminary design and projected cost of the correctional treatment facility that shall be designed to be accredited by the American Correctional Association;

(2) If the facility is to be developed by a private developer, a request for proposals for the private development of the facility for the State on a turn-key basis;

(3) A prioritized list of suitable sites, including the undeveloped portion of the Halawa correctional facility site and other public lands and private property, along with the estimated cost of acquisition, the costs for site preparation, and the cost for the provision of all necessary infrastructure to support the proposed facility;

(4) A proposal for the financing of the acquisition of the turn-key completed facility, including the use of general obligation bonds, special purpose revenue bonds, tax-exempted project revenue bonds, certificates of participation, or other forms of financing; and

(5) Any proposed legislation required for the implementation of the final design, construction, purchase, and operation of the correctional treatment facility.

SECTION 3. This Act shall not be construed to prohibit the governor from negotiating or contracting with any person for the development of other in-state correctional facilities pursuant to sections 353-16.35 and 353-16.36, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

SECTION 4. 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, for the purposes of this Act.

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

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2007.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	321
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007
STATE OF HAWAII