SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the State has not built a new prison in nearly three decades. State officials have continued to pursue various plans for adding prison space in Hawaii, including from proposals to build a massive new two thousand three hundred bed lockup at Kulani on the Big Island or more modest five hundred bed secure treatment facilities on Oahu. However, the State has been exporting inmates to privately operated prisons on the mainland since 1995 instead of building a new prison here in Hawaii. Fifty-four per cent of Hawaii's prisoners are incarcerated in private prisons on the mainland, the highest percentage among all other states.

The legislature also finds that prison officials claim that there is no room for additional Hawaii inmates in local prisons. Six out of Hawaii's nine prisons and jails have populations greater than their designed bed capacity. Prison officials explain that it is cheaper to incarcerate inmates on the mainland at a rate of $63 per inmate per day compared to $89 per inmate per day in Hawaii.

The State pays approximately $11,500,000 annually for the Corrections Corporation of America to confine about one thousand nine hundred convicts on the mainland. In 2006, the legislature set aside an additional $12,000,000 to transfer six hundred seventy-six more inmates to southern Arizona under a plan to consolidate all Hawaii inmates in three Arizona facilities. The contracts covered three years with an option for another two.

The legislature also finds that, notwithstanding the apparent short-term savings realized by transferring inmates to the mainland, the State can no longer afford to postpone the construction of correctional facilities. As overcrowding continues, the State is increasingly vulnerable to security risks and charges of civil rights violations. Further, placement of Hawaii inmates at mainland prisons has not been problem-free. For example, there have been allegations of sexual assault of female prisoners, denial of timely medical treatment, and civil rights violations. Moreover, the lack of nearby family support, which is an integral part of any successful reentry into society, hinders rehabilitation.

The legislature further finds that a great majority of all prisoners incarcerated by the State have committed crimes relating to drugs or engaged in other crimes to support existing substance-abuse habits. Simple incarceration without treatment will only lead to recidivism and magnify the problem rather than lead to a reduction of drug and substance abuse. Although placing Hawaii inmates in mainland prisons is a temporary solution until adequate facilities are built, the State cannot afford to continue this practice indefinitely. It is in the public interest to design and build a new correctional facility that emphasizes and prioritizes substance abuse and mental health treatment programs.

The purpose of this Act is to immediately initiate the planning and design process to develop a correctional facility to house fifteen hundred to two thousand inmates and provide intensive drug and substance-abuse and other mental health treatment on a site proposed by the director of public safety.

SECTION 2. (a) Within ninety days of the effective date of this Act, the director of public safety shall enter into a contract with a certified or accredited correctional design professional for the planning and preliminary design for a one thousand to one thousand two hundred bed correctional treatment facility. The design professional shall be selected pursuant to section 103D-304. The correctional treatment facility shall be a secure correctional facility designed to provide intensive in-house rehabilitation programs for the treatment of chemical dependency and abuse and other mental health problems.

(b) The correctional treatment facility shall be designed to be operated by the State with the capability to provide a total continuum of programs that address education, prevention, and treatment, and are directed at preventing drug and substance abuse and treating other mental health problems.

(c) By February 1, 2016, the director of public safety shall submit a progress report to the legislature that includes the following:

(1) The preliminary design and projected cost of the correctional treatment facility, which shall be designed to be accredited by the American Correctional Association;

(2) If the facility is to be developed by a private developer, a request for proposals for the private development of the facility for the State on a turn-key basis;

(3) A prioritized list of suitable sites, including the undeveloped portion of the Halawa correctional facility site and other public lands and private property, along with the estimated cost of acquisition, the costs for site preparation, and the cost for providing all necessary infrastructure to support the proposed facility;

(4) A proposal for the financing of the acquisition of the turn-key completed facility, including the use of general obligation bonds, special purpose revenue bonds, tax-exempted project revenue bonds, certificates of participation, or other forms of financing; and

(5) Any proposed legislation required for the implementation of the final design, construction, purchase, and operation of the correctional treatment facility.

SECTION 3. This Act shall not be construed to prohibit the governor from negotiating or contracting with any person for the development of other in-state correctional facilities pursuant to sections 353-16.35 and 353-16.36, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

SECTION 4. 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 2015-2016, and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2016-2017 for the purposes of this Act.

The sums appropriated shall be expended by the department of public safety for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2015.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	840
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015
STATE OF HAWAII