THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	20
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

requesting THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION TO comprehensively reevaluate its policies regarding in-person contact visitation at correctional facilities throughout the state to best support incarcerated persons in staying connected with loved ones who can help them on their journey of rehabilitation.

WHEREAS, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has a duty to rehabilitate individuals in its custody in addition to incarcerating them; and

WHEREAS, in-person, contact visitation with family members and loved ones is a rehabilitative practice proven to reduce recidivism for incarcerated persons; and

WHEREAS, the significance of appropriate, regulated physical contact between incarcerated persons and their loved ones to the goal of rehabilitation, opportunities for healing, and maintaining a relationship with loved ones, particularly for minor children visiting their incarcerated parents, is immense; and

WHEREAS, some correctional facilities in the State, however, require in-person visitors to be physically separated from their incarcerated loved one by a barrier such as a pane of glass; and

WHEREAS, the policies of prohibiting contact visits at facilities such as Halawa Correctional Facility, Maui Community Correctional Center, and Oahu Community Correctional Center have been instituted to address the issue of contraband illegally entering and leaving the facilities; and

WHEREAS, research supports that bans on traditional in-person visitation does not stop the flow of contraband; and

WHEREAS, the implementation or reimplementation of contact visits in facilities that currently ban them requires identifying the best practices for modernizing the approach to deterring contraband while recognizing the importance of contact visits to the overall well-being of incarcerated persons and their ability to successfully reintegrate into society; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2025, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is requested to comprehensively reevaluate its policies regarding in-person contact visitation at correctional facilities throughout the State to best support incarcerated persons in staying connected with loved ones who can help them on their journey of rehabilitation; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is urged to identify alternative policies that would allow for in-person, contact visitation at all correctional facilities throughout the State; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Corrections and Rehabilitation and Chairperson and Oversight Coordinator of the Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

DCR; Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission; In-Person Contact Visitation