Report Title:

Correctional Treatment Facilities; Private Development Authorized.

Description:

Directs the executive branch to request for proposals for the design, development, and operation of a correctional treatment facility by a private entity and to consider the undeveloped portion on the existing Halawa correctional facility as one possible site for the facility.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2864

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES.

 

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

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the State can no longer afford to postpone the construction of correctional facilities. As overcrowding continues, the State is placed in a vulnerable position of being subject to charges of civil rights violations and to security risks.

Since 1995, the department of public safety has been transporting prisoners to facilities in Oklahoma, Texas, Oregon, Minnesota, Arizona, and Tennessee. Although this is a temporary solution until adequate facilities are built, the State cannot afford to transport inmates to mainland facilities indefinitely.

Out-of-state placements cost approximately $24,400,000 per year, or $56 per prisoner per day for care, custody, transportation, inmate compensation, and health care. This arrangement has not been problem-free. For example, at the mainland facilities, there have been allegations of sexual assault of female prisoners, denial of timely medical treatment, and civil rights violations. Further, the lack of close-by family support which is an integral part of any successful re-entry into local society, hinders rehabilitation.

The legislature further finds that a great majority of all prisoners incarcerated by the State have committed crimes relating to drug and substance abuse laws or engaged in other crimes to support existing drug and substance abuse habits. Simple incarceration without treatment will only lead to recidivism and magnify the problem rather than lead to a reduction of the scourge of drug and substance abuse.

Accordingly, the legislature finds that it is in the public interest that a new correctional facility emphasizing programs which will address as a priority the provision of treatment programs for drug and substance abuse and all its resultant ills be designed and built. One of the sites the legislature would like to have considered is the undeveloped portion on the site of the Halawa correctional facility for this correctional treatment facility. However, other sites which may be more appropriate or economically feasible should also be considered.

The purpose of this Act is to direct the executive branch to initiate the process to develop a correctional treatment facility on the undeveloped portion on the site of the Halawa correctional facility or other appropriate site.

SECTION 2. (a) The governor shall initiate the process to develop the undeveloped portion on the site of the Halawa correctional facility or other appropriate site for a new correctional treatment facility. The development process shall include:

(1) Soil tests to ensure the ability of the site to support such a facility; and

(2) Negotiations with any qualified private entity for the design, development, and operation of a private, in-state correctional treatment facility, that shall emphasize the provision of programs to treat drug and substance abuse, sexual abuse, and other mental health problems.

(b) 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. (c) The development of an in-state correctional treatment facility required by this Act shall commence no later than June 30, 2005.

(d) The governor shall prepare a feasibility and planning study for the future use, disposition, or development of the existing Oahu community correctional center site. This feasibility and planning study shall include the opportunity for public review and comment by the surrounding community, prior to its completion.

SECTION 3. (a) The director of public safety may enter into an agreement or agreements, with a qualified private provider or a coalition of providers, to be known as the operator, to finance, design, construct, and operate the correctional treatment facility authorized pursuant to this Act.

(b) The director of public safety is authorized to enter into a long-term lease or lease-purchase agreement in order to facilitate the issuance of tax exempt project revenue bonds, certificates of participation, or other securities necessary to finance the project. A long-term operational agreement consistent with the financing requirements shall be developed and entered into with the operator for the correctional treatment facility.

(c) The director of public safety shall issue a request for proposals no later than March 1, 2005, and shall execute an agreement or agreements with the selected operator no later than four months following the issuance of the request for proposals.

(d) The director of public safety and the operator shall ensure that the correctional treatment facility is operated as a part of a total continuum of programs addressing education, prevention, or treatment, directed at achieving the prevention of drug and substance abuse, sexual abuse, and other mental health problems. The operator's primary goal shall be to effectively treat, house, and assist inmates in the correctional treatment facility to successfully reintegrate into the community upon completion of their sentences.

SECTION 4. The department of the attorney general shall prepare proposed legislation to enable the State to enter into an agreement with a private operator pursuant to this Act.

SECTION 5. The governor shall report to the legislature on the progress of the negotiations and the development of an in-state correctional treatment facility no later than twenty days before the convening of the regular session of 2005. The report shall include the proposed legislation required by section 4.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

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