THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	18
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

requesting the department of corrections and rehabilitation to collaborate with the department of transportation to use inmate work furlough programs for state roadway and highway maintenance.

WHEREAS, an enormous factor in an inmate's rehabilitation is the inmate's ability to access work preparation and career development programs; and

WHEREAS, inmates often encounter difficulties when reentering society upon release due to the lack of adequate support programs, including but not limited to inmate work furlough and reentry programs; and

WHEREAS, these difficulties often lead to high rates of recidivism, or the tendency of individuals to reoffend or recommit crimes even after release from incarceration; and

WHEREAS, according to a study that was conducted by a task force on prison reform established pursuant to H.C.R. No. 85, H.D. 2, S.D. 1 (2016), Hawaii faces a recidivism rate of over fifty percent; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has implemented work furlough programs across the State with the intention of enhancing the systemic reorientation process for inmates who pose minimal risk to local communities but not necessarily for the risk to recidivate; and

WHEREAS, the inmate work furlough programs provide eligible inmates with an opportunity to actively job seek, establish financial stability, develop social connections, and find appropriate housing prior to release from incarceration; and

WHEREAS, it is critical for highway maintenance, whether pothole management or vegetation control, to have a robust workforce in order to sustain safer roadways; and

WHEREAS, providing the Department of Transportation with additional workforce through the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's inmate workforce furlough programs is a reliable avenue to improve the State's roadways and highways while providing inmates access to beneficial work that would assist their reentry into society upon release from incarceration; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2025, that the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is requested to collaborate with the Department of Transportation to use inmate work furlough programs for state roadway and highway maintenance; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to Director of Corrections and Rehabilitation and Director of Transportation.

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

DCR; DOT; Work Furlough Program; Prisons; Highway Maintenance