STAND. COM. REP. NO. 244

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 664

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 664 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC SAFETY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require the Department of Public Safety to develop the new Oahu Community Correctional Center.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Accounting and General Services and Department of Public Safety. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai‘i, Community Alliance on Prisons, and three individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Office of the Public Defender and one individual.

Your Committee finds that a new facility for the Oahu Community Correctional Center is critical to the Department of Public Safety in fulfilling their responsibility to provide safe and secure services to certain members of our community. Parts of the current facility are over one hundred years old, and is neither adequate nor appropriate to meet today's correctional needs. Escalating maintenance costs, the lack of a safe and efficient work environment for corrections staff, and the inability to address detainees with special needs or mental health issues underscore the importance of this project. Your Committee further finds that a new facility will allow the State to provide inmates with healing, and subsequently, transformational programs and services that aim at a successful integration back into their home communities. This measure will allow the new facility to be developed, which will provide inmates and corrections personnel with a healthier and safer environment.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 664 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

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

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CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair