SB83 SD1.DOC

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that since the passage of mandatory sentencing minimums for offenses involving crystal methamphetamine, Hawaii's prison population has dramatically increased. This rise in the incarcerated population has caused the State to contract with out-of-state private prisons to ease overcrowding. The department of public safety's 2007 annual report states that at the end of the fiscal year, Hawaii had over two thousand prisoners serving their sentences in prisons in Arizona and Kentucky operated by Corrections Corporation of America.

According to a March 2008 magazine story, Corrections Corporation of America "began keeping two sets of books - one for internal use that described prison deficiencies in telling detail, and a second set that is described as 'doctored' for public consumption, to limit bad publicity, litigation or fines that could derail Corrections Corporation of America's multimillion dollar contracts with federal, state or local agencies." Despite these allegations, there has never been an audit of the private prisons that Hawaii has contracted with to house our prisoners.

Preliminary findings from consultants Criminal Justice Institute, Inc., hired by the department of public safety to conduct a reclassification of all Hawaii's incarcerated individuals, reveal that Hawaii has been over-classifying its incarcerated population. In a review of two thousand four hundred files of the then six thousand ten Hawaii individuals in jails, state prisons, contract prisons in the continental United States and in Interstate Compact prisons, it was revealed that eighty-seven per cent of Hawaii's women and sixty per cent of Hawaii's men incarcerated in contract prisons are nonviolent lawbreakers. Currently, 52.1 per cent of women and 41.4 per cent of men in contract prisons are classified as Minimum or Community Custody, with 55.1 per cent of the women and 64.1 per cent of the men projected to be classified as Minimum or Community Custody at the completion of the reclassification process.

The legislature finds that in these lean economic times, Hawaii must be smart on crime. The department of business, economic development, and tourism has asserted that for every $1 leaving Hawaii, we lose $3 in economic activity.

The problems at Corrections Corporation of America prisons continue. At Saguaro Correctional Center, the prison built by Corrections Corporation of America for Hawaii inmates as a program-intensive prison, problems including lack of programming, poor medical care, and two deaths since August 2008 have increased the State's liability.

The purpose of this Act is to audit the performance of Red Rock Correctional Center, Saguaro Correctional Center, and Otter Creek Correctional Center in the delivery of services, visitation, and the department of public safety's monitoring of these contracts to ensure that Hawaii prisoners serving their sentences in these facilities are receiving the appropriate services paid by taxpayers.

It is fiscally responsible and sound public policy to perform independent audits of prisons holding state prisoners. The State of Colorado conducted an audit of private prisons in 2005 entitled, "Private Prisons/Department of Corrections/Performance Audit April 2005", and the State of New Mexico conducted an audit of private prisons entitled, "Review of Facility Planning Efforts and Oversight of Private Prisons and Health Programs, May 23, 2007".

SECTION 2. (a) The auditor shall conduct performance audits of Red Rock Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona; Saguaro Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona; and Otter Creek Correctional Center in Wheelwright, Kentucky, in the following areas:

(1) Services provided to Hawaii inmates by Corrections Corporation of America or its facilities, including:

(A) Medical services;

(B) Mental health services;

(D) Education;

(E) Vocational training;

(F) Special holding, such as the special housing intensive program and administrative segregation; and

(G) Food service;

(2) Facilitation of family and community connections including:

(A) Visitation;

(B) Videoconferencing;

(C) Telephone communication, including calls made by the inmate to an attorney or calls from an attorney to an inmate; and

(D) Mail, including legal mail and mail protected by the attorney-client privilege; and

(3) The department of public safety's oversight responsibilities including:

(A) Monitoring of private prisons;

(B) Enforcement of contract provisions; and

(b) The medical, mental health, and substance abuse information collected pursuant to subsection (a)(1) shall include, but not be limited to:

(1) The number of individuals receiving medical or mental health care;

(2) The nature of reported illnesses or conditions;

(3) Accessibility of medical care as measured by the length of time that transpires between a request for medical care and the delivery of appropriate services in response to the request;

(4) The medical emergency plan for each facility; and

(5) The number of serious illnesses and deaths that have taken place at each facility over the last year.

(c) The education and vocational training information collected pursuant to subsection (a)(1) shall include, but not be limited to:

(1) The number of individuals participating in each program;

(2) The number of individuals on waiting lists for each program;

(3) The criteria for entry into each program; and

(4) The accessibility of each program as measured by the length of time that transpires between a request for admission to a program and actual admission.

(d) The special holding facilities information collected pursuant to subsection (a)(1) shall include:

(1) The total number of beds in special housing intensive program;

(2) The criteria for entering the special housing intensive program including clarification on whether the program is voluntary or mandated;

(3) The length of the special housing intensive program with a description of how an individual moves through the phases of the program;

(4) Criteria for write-ups that send numerous Hawaii inmates into administration segregation, only to have charges dismissed after serving time there;

(5) The number of administrative segregation units; and

(6) The number of Hawaii inmates serving time in administrative segregation units as well as the length of time served and the nature and disposition of the offense that sent the individual into the administrative segregation unit.

(e) The food services information collected pursuant to subsection (a)(1) shall include information regarding:

(1) The number of special diets ordered by the dietician for the inmates;

(2) Complaints about not receiving special medically-ordered diets; and

(3) The frequency of the inclusion of fresh fruit and vegetables in the diets of Hawaii inmates as outlined in the contract between the State of Hawaii and Corrections Corporation of America.

(f) The facilitation of community communications information collected pursuant to subsection (a)(2) shall include the criteria and process for visitation, videoconferencing, and telephone communication including, but not limited to, the process for and frequency of updating visitor, videoconferencing, and telephone lists.

(g) The oversight and monitoring information collected pursuant to subsection (a)(3) shall include, but not be limited to:

(1) The frequency and nature of monitor visits;

(2) The names of all monitors on the various monitoring teams;

(3) All monitors' and audit reports;

(4) All contract violations or other violations committed by Corrections Corporation of America and the nature of these violations;

(5) Fines assessed or remedies employed to address the foregoing violations; and

(6) The public's access to all monitoring and audit reports.

SECTION 3. Upon receipt of auditor's results by the department of public safety, the department shall have ninety days to implement the recommendations of the auditor and shall submit a report to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the next regular session of the legislature explaining how the recommendations were implemented or why the recommendations were not implemented.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	83
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII