RELATING TO CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES.

HB1376

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1376

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

rELATING
TO correctional facilities
.

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

PART I

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SECTION 1.
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The legislature finds that the State has
relied on contracted private, for-profit prisons to house a significant portion
of the State's prison population for more than two decades.
�
Unfortunately, the inmates who serve their
sentences in these out-of-state facilities are effectively exiled thousands of
miles away from their families, friends, and crucial support networks.
�
The effects of this isolation are felt
disproportionately by the Native Hawaiian inmates, who are significantly more
likely to be transferred to out-of-state prisons than inmates of other
ethnicities.

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More specifically, a 2010 report by
the office of Hawaiian affairs, entitled "The Disparate Treatment of
Native Hawaiians in the Criminal Justice System", found that out-of-state
incarceration results in significant trauma to prisoners and their
families.
�
In collecting data and
testimony for the report, the office of Hawaiian affairs found that
incarceration outside of the State often resulted in families being torn
apart.
�
For example, one former inmate
stated that he "lost [his] family--wife and kids" when he was forced
to serve five years of his sentence on the mainland.
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Other individuals involved in the criminal
justice system described how they witnessed inmates react emotionally when they
realized that they would be moved thousands of miles away from their families
without being able to tell them goodbye.
�

The report also found that when the inmates returned to the State, they
were more likely to encounter difficulties when reentering society due to the
lack of adequate reentry programs at the out-of-state prisons and the long
length of time that they spent away from their support networks and Hawaii
culture.

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The legislature also finds that the
adverse effects of incarcerating inmates outside the State were recognized by
the legislature and the former department of public safety even before the
State began the practice of contracting with private mainland prisons.
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During the regular session of 1994, when the
legislature was first considering whether to authorize the use of private,
out-of-state correctional facilities to alleviate prison overcrowding, standing
committees in both the senate and house of representatives expressed concerns
about inmates being transferred away from their support networks and the impact
this would have on their rehabilitation.
�

Committees in both chambers expressed a clear intent that inmates with
strong ties to Hawaii should not be transferred outside of the State.
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In 1994, the senate committee on judiciary
stated in standing committee report no. 1902:

"Many inmates
currently incarcerated in Hawaii's prisons have lived their entire lives in
Hawaii.
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These inmates have no support
systems in localities other than Hawaii.

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Accordingly, on
the basis of the representations made by . . . the director of public safety,
priority for transfers should be given first to non-Hawaii resident inmates,
then to those inmates who have lived in our State for five years or less, and
only thereafter will those with strong roots in Hawaii be considered for
transfer."

Similarly, in 1994, the committee on public safety
and corrections of the house of representatives stated the following in standing
committee report no. 975-94:

"[T]he public defender
raised concerns that inmates with a local support system would be transferred
to other states against their will.

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An enormous
factor in an inmate's rehabilitation is the inmate's ability to receive visits
or phone calls from friends and relatives.
�

It appears that visits or phone calls to an inmate would be greatly
reduced, it not eliminated, if an inmate with a local support system is
transferred to a mainland correctional center.

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In light of
this, it is in the intent of your Committee that any inmate having a strong,
nurturing support system in Hawaii that contributes to the inmate's
rehabilitation shall not be considered for interstate transfer."

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Accordingly, the legislature finds
that when it enacted Act 208, Session Laws of Hawaii 1994 (Act 208), which
authorized the transfer of inmates to privately operated correctional
facilities outside of the State, it did so with the clear intent that the
former department of public safety would not transfer individuals with strong
community ties.
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The legislature also
finds that this clear intent has largely been ignored over the last few decades.
�
The legislature further recognizes that fears
regarding the significant detrimental impact that interstate transfers would
have on inmates have turned out to be true.
�

Furthermore, the problem of prison overcrowding continues to persist
even though Act 208 was enacted specifically to alleviate this issue.
�
Moreover, larger problems with the use of
mass incarceration have increased since Act 208 was enacted.
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Thus, the legislature believes that the State
must phase out the practice of transferring inmates to privately operated
mainland correctional facilities.

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The
legislature notes that the State had the authority to transfer certain inmates
to publicly operated correctional facilities, such as prisons owned and
operated directly by the federal government or a state, prior to the passage of
Act 208.
�
The State will retain that
authority under this Act.

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The
legislature also finds that the department of corrections and rehabilitation is
currently planning for the construction of a new jail to replace the existing
Oahu community correctional center in Kalihi.
�

In 2018, the governor announced the selection of the Halawa animal
quarantine facility site as the location for the new jail.
�
The new facility would cost $525,000,000, and
the State planned to fund the facility using either general obligation bond
proceeds or through a public-private partnership, in which the State would
engage with a private party to develop and operate the jail.
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However, the legislature takes notice of the adverse
effects of using private correctional facilities, including a lack of oversight
and accountability and recurring violations of inmates' constitutional
rights.
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Therefore, the legislature does
not believe it would be prudent to move forward with the construction of a new,
privately operated jail within the State.

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The legislature further finds that
Act 179, Session Laws of Hawaii 2019, established the Hawaii correctional
system oversight commission to ensure transparency in the State's correctional
system; support safe conditions for employees, inmates, and detainees; and
provide positive reform towards a rehabilitative and therapeutic correctional
system.
�
The commission is responsible
for overseeing the State's correctional system, establishing maximum inmate
population limits for each correctional facility, and monitoring crucial
reentry programs, facility educational and treatment programs, rehabilitative
services, work furloughs, and parole services.
�

Since its inception, the commission has played a leading role in
addressing the COVID-19 response in the State's correctional system despite
being unable to hire any staff or access any of its appropriated funding.

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The Hawaii
correctional system oversight commission has previously expressed concerns that
the department of corrections and rehabilitation's process to construct a new
jail on Oahu was flawed.
�
Despite the
project's large costs, plans have been developed without meaningful input or
guidance from the community, and the facility planners have failed to identify
factors driving the State's jail population.
�

The commission concluded that the State should reassess the required
capacity of the new jail, noting that many of the assumptions made at the time
the facility's environmental impact statement was written have changed.

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In the
face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the State markedly reduced the inmate population
at the Oahu community correctional center to reduce chronic overcrowding.
�
As a result, the population at the Oahu
community correctional center was reduced from over one thousand inmates to
less than eight hundred inmates.
�
A study
conducted by the Lawyers for Equal Justice determined that the vast majority of
inmates released did not reoffend and most of those who did reoffend had been
arrested for "poverty related offenses", such as those related to
homelessness, including entering a closed public park or obstructing a public
sidewalk.

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These
population reduction efforts, as well as future moves toward pretrial reform
and sentencing reform, would alter the requirements of any new correctional
center in the State.
�
Accordingly, the
commission recommended that planning for the new jail be paused so that
additional review and crucial planning may be conducted.
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The legislature believes that it is crucial
that the Hawaii correctional system oversight commission be included in this
review and planning.
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In addition, as the
State phases out the use of private correctional facilities, the commission's
crucial role in establishing important corrections policies and providing
crucial oversight will become even more important.
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Therefore, to ensure the State has a
coordinated approach to the management of the State's correctional facilities
as it brings prisoners formerly incarcerated in private, out-of-state
correctional facilities back to Hawaii, the legislature believes that the
commission must be included in the planning and design of any new correctional
facility or the expansion of any existing correctional facility in the State.

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T
herefore, the purpose of this Act
is to require:

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(1)
�
The State to phase
out the use of private prisons; and

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(2)
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The department of
corrections and rehabilitation to obtain the Hawaii correctional system
oversight commission's approval before constructing any new correctional
facility or expanding any existing correctional facility.

PART II

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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-
�
Use
of private correctional institutions prohibited.
�
(a)
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Beginning on July 1, 2030, the State shall
not commit, transfer, or house any inmate at a
private
correctional institution.

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(b)
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This section shall not be construed to prohibit the State from
contracting with or housing an inmate at:

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(1)
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Any facility
providing rehabilitative, counseling, treatment, mental health, educational, or
medical services to a minor who is under the jurisdiction of the family court;

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(2)
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Any facility
providing evaluation or treatment services to a person who has been detained or
is subject to an order of commitment by a court;

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(3)
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Any facility
providing educational, vocational, medical, or other ancillary services to an
inmate in the custody of, and under the direct supervision of, the State or any
of its political subdivisions;

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(4)
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A residential
care facility licensed by the department of health or department of human
services;

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(5)
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Any school
facility used for the disciplinary detention of a pupil;

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(6)
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Any facility
used for the quarantine or isolation of persons for public health reasons; or

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(7)
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Any facility
used for the temporary detention of a person detained or arrested by a
merchant, private investigator or guard, or other person pursuant to section
803-3.

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(c)
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As
used in this section, "private correctional institution" includes any
facility:

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(1)
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Owned by the
State and operated by a non-governmental entity; or

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(2)
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Operated under
a public-private partnership.
"

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SECTION
3
.
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Section
353-16.2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to
read as follows:

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"(a)
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The director may effect the transfer of a
committed felon to any correctional institution located in another state
regardless of whether the state is a member of the Western Interstate
Corrections Compact; provided that the institution is in compliance with
appropriate health, safety, and sanitation codes of the state, provides a level
of program activity for the inmate that is suitable, and is operated by that
state, by any of its political subdivisions, or by a private institution; and
provided further that the transfer is either:

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(1)
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In the interest of
the security[
,
]
or
management of the correctional institution
where the inmate is presently placed, or the reduction of prison overcrowding;
or

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(2)
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In the interest of
the inmate[
.
]
;

provided further that beginning on July 1, 2026,
the director shall commence reducing the number of committed felons
incarcerated in private correctional institutions.
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Beginning on June 30, 2030, no inmate shall
be committed or transferred to any private correctional institution.
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As used in this section, "private
correctional institution" shall include any correctional institution
operated under a public-private partnership.
"

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SECTION 4.
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Section 353-16.3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended to read as follows:

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"
�353-16.3
�
Development of
out-of-state Hawaii correctional facilities.
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Notwithstanding any other provision to the
contrary, the governor, with the assistance of the director, may negotiate with
any appropriate out-of-state jurisdiction for the development of Hawaii
correctional facilities to reduce prison overcrowding; provided that any
agreement negotiated pursuant to this section shall be subject to legislative
approval by concurrent resolution in any regular or special session[
.
]
;
provided further that the authority to negotiate and execute an agreement under
this section shall expire on June 30, 2030.
"

PART III

����
SECTION 5.
�
Chapter 353, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended by adding a new section to part I to be appropriately designated and to
read as follows:

����
"
�353-
�
Construction
and development of new correctional facilities; approval of Hawaii correctional
system oversight commission required.
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(a)
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No new correctional facility shall be
constructed and no existing correctional facility shall be expanded unless the
construction or expansion is first approved by the Hawaii correctional system
oversight commission.

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(b)
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To
facilitate the approval or disapproval of a proposed new or expanded
correctional facility as provided in subsection (a), the department shall
submit the following information to the Hawaii correctional system oversight
commission upon the commission's request:

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(1)
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The proposed
maximum inmate population of the facility;

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(2)
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Any programs
proposed for the facility, including reentry programs, facility educational and
treatment programs, rehabilitative services, work furloughs, and parole
services; and

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(3)
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Any other
relevant information required by the commission as established by rules adopted
pursuant to chapter 91.
"

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SECTION
6
.
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Section 353L-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

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"(b)
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The commission shall:

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(1)
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Oversee the State's correctional system and
have jurisdiction over investigating complaints at correctional facilities and
facilitating a correctional system transition to a rehabilitative and
therapeutic model;

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(2)
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Establish maximum inmate population limits for
each correctional facility and formulate policies and procedures to prevent the
inmate population from exceeding the capacity of each correctional facility;

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(3)
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Consult
with the department of corrections and rehabilitation on the planning of any
new or expanded correctional facility in the State, and approve or disapprove
those plans before the correctional facility is constructed or expanded, as
provided in section 353- ;

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[
(3)
]

(4)
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Work
with the department of corrections and rehabilitation in monitoring and
reviewing the comprehensive offender reentry program, including facility
educational and treatment programs, rehabilitative services, work furloughs,
and the Hawaii paroling authority's oversight of parolees.
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The commission may make recommendations to
the department of corrections and rehabilitation, the Hawaii paroling
authority, and the legislature regarding reentry and parole services; and

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[
(4)
]

(5)
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Ensure that the comprehensive offender reentry system under chapter 353H
is working properly to provide programs and services that result in the timely
release of inmates on parole when the minimum terms have been served instead of
delaying the release for lack of programs and services.

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To achieve
these ends, the commission shall authorize the oversight coordinator to adopt
rules in accordance with chapter 91."

PART IV

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SECTION 7.
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Statutory material to be repealed is
bracketed and stricken.
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New statutory
material is underscored.

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SECTION 8.
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This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Corrections;
Private Prisons; Phase-out; Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission

Description:

Requires
the State to phase out the use of private correctional facilities to
incarcerate Hawaii inmates.
�
Prohibits
the construction of new correctional facilities or the expansion of existing
correctional facilities without the approval of the Hawaii Correctional System
Oversight Commission.

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