HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

92

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE AUDITOR TO CONDUCT A FINANCIAL AND MANAGEMENT AUDIT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, SHERIFF DIVISION, AND TO REPORT ON THE SUITABILITY OF THE administrative organization of the department of public safety and sheriff division.

 

 


     WHEREAS, the Sheriff Division of the Department of Public Safety ("Sheriff Division"), is responsible for meeting the mandates of the federal Homeland Security Act of 2002; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Sheriff Division has broad responsibility for statewide law enforcement functions; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Sheriff Division receives funding at the discretion of the Director of the Department of Public Safety and must compete for funding with the Department of Public Safety's Corrections Division ("Corrections Division"), which typically receives between sixty percent and eighty percent of funds appropriated to the Department of Public Safety; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Sheriff Division's primary mission diverges from the primary mission of the Department of Public Safety; and

 

     WHEREAS, in his 2005 response to Act 83, Session Laws of Hawaii 2003 ("2005 Response"), the Interim Director of the Department of Public Safety, Richard Bissen, considered the feasibility of separating the Department of Public Safety into a Department of Corrections and a Department of Law Enforcement; and

 

     WHEREAS, in reference to law enforcement and corrections, the 2005 Response states "there is little operational relationship between the two functions."  Further, "[a]s currently organized, a single director must attempt to establish resource priorities for each function without adversely impacting the other"; and

 

     WHEREAS, the 2005 Response conservatively estimates that a separation of the Department of Public Safety into a Department of Corrections and a Department of Law Enforcement would cost $1,600,000 more per year; and

 

     WHEREAS, viable alternatives exist to the continued placement of the Sheriff Division within the Department of Public Safety; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2009, the Senate concurring, that the Auditor is requested to conduct a financial audit of the Department of Public Safety, and is requested to include in that audit;

 

     (1)  The total amount of funds requested by the Department

of Public Safety to advance its mission and goals, and the percentage of such funds allocated to the Sheriff Division;

 

(2)  Issues relating to the Department of Public Safety's strategic and financial plan, its budgeting process, and its process of forecasting future financial needs; and

 

(3)  Any and all other matters that the Auditor would normally undertake as necessary or appropriate in a system-wide financial audit; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor is requested to conduct a management audit of the Department of Public Safety that includes the following components and addresses the following issues;

 

(1)  How priorities for expenditures within the Department of Public Safety are determined;

 

(2)  What responsibilities of the Sheriff Division are not adequately achieved due to insufficient resources; and

 

(3)  An examination and evaluation of alternative administrative structures for law enforcement and correction functions, including but not limited to:

 

(A)  Creation of a new executive department for the Sheriff Division;

 

(B)  Placement of the Sheriff Division in a different executive department; and

 

(C)  Functional separation of the Corrections Division and Sheriff Division within the Department of Public Safety, with different heads, budgets, and support staff; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Public Safety, its staff, and other relevant persons or agencies are requested to cooperate with and assist the Auditor, and to provide information requested by the Auditor; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor submit the findings and recommendations of the financial and management audits and the report, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature not later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2010; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Auditor, the Governor, the Attorney General, the Director of Public Safety, and the Deputy Directors of the Law Enforcement and Corrections Divisions of the Department of Public Safety.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

Department of Public Safety; Audit