SCR123

WHEREAS, Hawaii's prisons are so over crowded that prisoners are being sent to the mainland United States, which effectively cuts-off the prisoners from their families and other support systems; and

WHEREAS, effective alternative placements are needed to keep prisoners in Hawaii, so that they can maintain contact with family members, especially their children, through programs targeted to teaching useable skills; and

WHEREAS, community-based and work camp correction programs could be viable alternatives for many nonviolent criminal offenders; and

WHEREAS, these community-based correction programs include work release, community service, rehabilitation, and work camps; and

WHEREAS, community-based programs keep offenders accountable for their actions while keeping community support intact; and

WHEREAS, the development of community–based programs and work camps would benefit Hawaii financially by creating more business and work opportunities; and

WHEREAS, according to the Department of Public Safety, in 2007, thirty-nine per cent of Hawaii's prisoners were Hawaiian or part Hawaiian; and

WHEREAS, many of such prisoners would benefit from practicing Native Hawaiian cultural practices, including the principle of ho‘oponopono, or the act of righting a wrong through traditional means of conflict resolution, and including the concept of pu‘uhonua, or place of refuge, where one who breaks the kapu, or rules, can go to avoid punishment, and after making the required restitution, can return home; and

WHEREAS, many Native Hawaiians consider the island of Kaho‘olawe sacred and this island needs an ongoing source of people to maintain the integrity of the island; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2008, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Public Safety is requested to convene the Task Force for Alternative Prison Placement to explore the feasibility of alternatives to sending prisoners to the mainland, including the feasibility of developing community-based alternatives and work camps; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force develop a list of alternative community placements and work camps within the State of Hawaii, including consideration of a site on the island of Kaho‘olawe, where inmates could stay onsite for work camps or work projects; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force be composed of representatives of the following entities:

(1) The Department of Public Safety;

(2) The Department of Human Services;

(3) The Office of Hawaiian Affairs;

(4) Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve Commission;

(5) The Protect Kaho‘olawe ‘Ohana; and

(6) Any other vested stakeholder these entities see fit; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Public Safety is requested to submit a report to the Legislature at least twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2009 that includes:

(1) A description of present community-based and work camp settings in the State;

(2) Criteria for the programs to ensure that program objectives are met;

(3) The number of Hawaii prisoners presently in community-based and work camps;

(4) Issues related to the expansion of effective programs across the State to enable and prepare for the return of Hawaii prisoners from the mainland;

(5) Consideration of additional sites for community-based sites and work camps, including having a work camp on the island of Kaho‘olawe;

(6) Recommendations and work plan; and

(7) Other inclusions as needed; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Public Safety, the Director of Human Resources Development, the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Chairperson of the Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve Commission, and the Chairperson of the Protect Kaho‘olawe ‘Ohana.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

DPS; Task Force; Prison Alternatives

THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	123
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008
STATE OF HAWAII