STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1203

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2025

RE: S.B. No. 104

S.D. 2

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Public Safety, to which was referred S.B. No. 104, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CORRECTIONS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Restrict the use of restrictive housing in state‑ operated and state-contracted correctional facilities, with certain specified exceptions;

(2) Require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to develop written policies and implement procedures regarding restrictive housing by July 1, 2026;

(3) Require the Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission to thoroughly review certain housing placements;

(4) Require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, by April 1, 2026, to develop written policies and implement procedures to review committed persons' placement in restrictive housing and initiate reviews and develop a plan regarding restrictive housing for committed persons; and

(5) Require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to submit a report to the Legislature and Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission no later than forty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2027.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission; Office of the Public Defender; American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaiʻi; Community Alliance on Prisons; Hawaiʻi Friends of Restorative Justice; League of Women Voters of Hawaii; Easterseals Hawaii; and five individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Your Committee finds that restrictive housing is a severe form of punishment that is closely associated with long-lasting psychological harm and poor post-release outcomes. Your Committee further finds that currently, there are concerns that any restrictions, policies, and procedures on the use of restrictive housing in the State may be insufficient. This measure attempts to address this need by limiting certain restrictive-housing practices and requiring the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to develop policies and procedures for restrictive housing.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing its effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 104, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 104, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety,

____________________________

DELLA AU BELATTI, Chair