RELATING TO CORRECTIONS.

HB1263

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1263

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating
to corrections
.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

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SECTION 1.
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The legislature finds that the departments of
corrections and rehabilitation and accounting and general services and their
consultants have spent more than seven years and nearly $25,000,000 planning a
new jail to replace the existing Oahu community correctional center, but have failed
to follow a systems approach to jail planning, which is considered a best
practice to determining an appropriately sized jail and managing the jail
population on a long-term basis.
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A
systems approach also shifts the nature of jail planning from simply making
population forecasts based on past trends and the assumption that the policies
driving the jail population will remain unchanged to developing a continuum of
options for law enforcement and judges, in which jails are only one option
among many and to be used sparingly and as a last resort.
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Additionally, research by the Vera Institute
of Justice has shown that if planners fail to address the policies and
practices driving the jail population, a vicious cycle is created in which new
jails that are supposed to reduce overcrowding rapidly fill to capacity,
creating a demand for more capacity and precipitating a costly building cycle.

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The legislature further finds that
as of December 2024, there were nine hundred forty-seven people incarcerated at
the Oahu community correctional center.
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Also,
from 2021 to 2023, the department of corrections and rehabilitation has
reported that approximately thirty to forty per cent of people incarcerated in
Hawaii were homeless immediately prior to entry, with an even larger percentage
of people exiting to homelessness after incarceration.

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The legislature also finds that the
Hawaii correctional system oversight commission reported that eighty-six per
cent of the State's corrections population needs substance use treatment at
some level and that native Hawaiians are disproportionately incarcerated.
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Additionally, of the nine hundred forty-seven
people at the Oahu community correctional center, six hundred sixty-eight, or
nearly seventy-one per cent, were pretrial status and remain in jail because
they are unable to afford bail.
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Furthermore,
reducing and effectively managing the jail population is critical because of
the costs associated with construction and operation of such facilities.

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The legislature finds that on
January 3, 2025, the Hawaii correctional system oversight commission wrote a
letter to the governor and members of the legislature that advocated for a
"pause in planning" to construct a new facility to replace the Oahu
community correctional center.
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Reasons
for a strategic pause in the jail planning included system wide gaps in
rehabilitation practices, inadequate alignment with the Breaking Cycles
Symposium report recommendations, and the need for a holistic approach to corrections
and justice system reform.
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The
commission also advocated for a pause in planning to allow for immediate
implementation of rehabilitative practices, data collection and analysis, and
collaborative efforts to reduce pretrial detention.

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The departments of corrections and
rehabilitation and accounting and general services plan to use a public-private
partnership to plan, design, finance, construct, and maintain the new
jail.
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However, while public-private
partnerships may be appropriate to deliver some types of public infrastructure,
they are not appropriate for jails, which must be planned, designed, financed,
constructed, and managed with an exceptionally high degree of transparency and
public participation that simply cannot be achieved with a public-private
partnership.

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Accordingly, the purpose of this Act
is to:

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(1)
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Establish a
moratorium from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2028, on the issuance of a request
for proposal and construction of any new or expanded correctional facility
through a public-private partnership to replace the existing Oahu community
correctional center; and

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(2)
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Establish and
appropriate funds for a criminal justice diversion task force.

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SECTION 2.
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Chapter 353, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended by adding a new section to part I to be appropriately designated and to
read as follows:

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"
�353-
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In-state
correctional facilities; moratorium.
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(a)
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Notwithstanding sections 353-16.35 and 353-16.36
and any other law to the contrary, no department, agency, board, commission, or
employer of the State shall, from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2028:

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(1)
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Expend funds or
take any action to create a public-private partnership to plan, finance,
develop, or construct a new correctional facility in the State;

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(2)
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Issue, publish,
circulate, or solicit a request for qualifications from any private entity
related to its ability to plan, finance, design, develop, or construct a new
correctional facility in the State;

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(3)
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Issue, publish,
circulate, or solicit a request for proposal to plan, finance, design, develop,
or construct a new correctional facility in the State; or

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(4)
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Enter into a
contract with any party to plan, finance, develop, design, or construct a new
correctional facility in the State.

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(b)
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For the purposes of this section, "new
correctional facility" means any prison or community correctional center
that has not housed an inmate prior to July 1, 2025.
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SECTION 3.
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(a)
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The
Hawaii correctional system oversight commission shall create a criminal justice
diversion task force to work collaboratively to:

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(1)
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Recommend policies and procedures to the legislature
to build statewide diversion infrastructure to divert individuals from jails,
particularly for people accused of offenses arising from, or associated with, houselessness,
poverty, mental illness, or substance use disorders;

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(2)
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Identify the policies and practices driving the State's jail
population and make recommendations to the legislature on data-driven
strategies that will safely reduce the jail population;

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(3)
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Recommend
policies and programs to reduce the overrepresentation of native Hawaiians,
Pacific Islanders, African Americans, and Filipinos in the criminal legal
system;

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(4)
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Recommend
policies and procedures from the transformation and successful decarceration of
the juvenile justice system in Hawaii that can be applied to the adult
corrections system;

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(5)
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Analyze
the changes in policies, procedures, and other factors that contributed to the
significant reduction in the jail population during the pandemic and at Maui
community correctional center from 2014 to 2024; and

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(6)
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Make
other recommendations as the task force deems appropriate to improve Hawaii's
criminal legal system.

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(b)
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The preferred qualifications for members of
the task force shall be possessing knowledge in:

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(1)
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Evidence-based reforms within criminal justice
and correctional systems to reduce the number of people in jails and prisons;

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(2)
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Native Hawaiian cultural-based practices, with
an emphasis on healing and reducing recidivism;

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(3)
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Restorative justice practices; and

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(4)
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Creating alternatives to incarceration through diversion,
bail reform, the treatment of mental illness and substance use disorders, harm
reduction practices, supportive housing programs, best practices in pretrial
procedures, and programs to reduce poverty.

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(c)
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The
Hawaii correctional system
oversight commission shall invite
the following individuals, at minimum, to serve on the task
force:

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(1)
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A representative from the office of Hawaiian
affairs;

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(2)
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A representative from the Hawaii Health and
Harm Reduction Center;

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(3)
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A representative from Partners in Care;

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(4)
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A representative from the American Civil
Liberties Union of Hawaii;

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(5)
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A representative from
ʻ
Ekolu Mea Nui;

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(6)
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A representative from the Community Alliance
on Prisons;

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(7)
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A representative from Hawaii Friends for
Restorative Justice;

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(8)
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A representative from the Reimagining Public
Safety in Hawaii Coalition;

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(9)
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A representative from Project Vision Hawaii;

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(10)
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A representative from Going Home Hawaii;

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(11)
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A representative from the YMCA of Oahu; and

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(12)
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Three justice-impacted persons with lived experience.

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(d)
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The task force shall elect a chairperson and
vice-chair from among its members.

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(e)
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The criminal justice diversion task
force shall submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any
proposed legislation, to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the
convening of the regular session of
2027.
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The report shall include
a plan that addresses the
policies and practices driving the jail population on Oahu, recommendations for
significantly reducing the jail population, the true cost of a new jail to
replace the
Oahu community correctional center
at the proposed site in Halawa, and the true cost of
a renovation of the
Oahu community correctional center
at its existing location
that incorporates an evidenced-based systems approach.

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(f)
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Members of the task force shall serve without
pay but shall receive reimbursement for expenses, including travel expenses,
that are necessary for the performance of their duties.

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(g)
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The terms of the task force members shall be
for two years.

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(h)
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The task force shall cease to exist on June
30, 2028.

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SECTION 4.
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There is appropriated out of the general
revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of
$ or so much
thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2025-2026 and the same sum or so
much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2026-2027 for the operations
of the criminal justice diversion task force pursuant to this Act.

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The sums

appropriated shall be expended by the Hawaii
correctional system oversight commission for the purposes of this Act.

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SECTION
5.
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New statutory material is
underscored.

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SECTION 6.
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This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2025.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Correctional
Facilities; Moratorium; Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission;
Criminal Justice Diversion Task Force; Appropriation

Description:

Establishes
a moratorium on the
issuance of a request for proposal and construction
of any new or expanded correctional facility from 7/1/2025 to 6/30/2028,
including the planned construction of a new facility to replace the existing
Oahu community correctional center.
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Establishes a criminal justice diversion task force.
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Appropriates funds.

The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.