STAND. COM. REP. NO.  138-08

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2008

RE:   H.B. No. 2007

      H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Public Safety & Military Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 2007 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CORRECTIONS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to ensure reasonable pricing of goods inmates purchase from commissaries in correctional facilities for personal use, such as sundries, hygiene products, food, and other items that are not provided for them by the facility they are confined to by requiring the Auditor to:

(1)  Conduct a financial and management audit of:

(A)  The operations of the Department of Public Safety's (DPS) commissaries at state correctional facilities; and

(B)  The commissary operations of out-of-state contracted correctional facilities where Hawaii inmates are confined;

and

(2)  Submit a report of its findings and recommendations relating to the local and out-of-state operations of the commissaries to the Legislature prior to the convening of the 2009 Regular Session.

     DPS opposed this bill.

     Your Committee has amended this bill by:

(1)  Requiring the Auditor to carry out performance audits of each private prison on the mainland contracted to house Hawaii prisoners with regard to the issues of delivery of services, visitation, and DPS's monitoring of those contracts;

(2)  Requiring the Auditor to submit a report of its finding and recommendations relating to the private mainland prisons to the Legislature prior to the convening of the 2009 Regular Session;

(3)  Appropriating an unspecified amount of funds to conduct the performance audits;

(4)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2008; and

(5)  Making technical, nonsubstantive changes for clarity, consistency, and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety & Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2007, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2007, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Legislative Management.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety & Military Affairs,

____________________________

CINDY EVANS, Chair