HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2362

THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2020

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO PUBLIC SAFETY.

 

 

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

 


     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that in 2001, the federal Bureau of Prisons opened the Honolulu Federal Detention Center.  Located on the west side of the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, the Honolulu Federal Detention Center houses male and female federal pre-trial detainees, sentenced felons who have nearly completed their prison terms, and Hawaii inmates who are awaiting trial in state court, at an occupancy rate far below the facility's potential capacity of one thousand two hundred beds.

     The Honolulu Federal Detention Center currently houses approximately four hundred inmates, approximately one hundred seventy of which are state detainees, in an efficient vertical design structure that requires fewer workers to manage detainees.  The center also includes integrated state-of-the-art surveillance and management technologies, and accommodates a wide variety of uses including cells, office areas, medical facilities, recreational areas, storage rooms, food preparation areas, laundry areas, mechanical rooms, security systems, and communications systems.

     The State has struggled for years to find additional capacity for its overcrowded jails and prisons, which were designed to hold a combined total of 2,491 inmates, but which currently hold approximately 5,161 inmates.  Replacing or refurbishing state prisons and jails to meet the current demand for adequate space and services would cost an estimated $1,500,000,000 to $2,000,000,000.

     Since June 2001, the State has leased bed space at the Honolulu Federal Detention Center to relieve jail overcrowding.  In September 2019, it housed one hundred eighty-six male and female inmates under the department of public safety's jurisdiction at a daily cost of $129.48 per inmate.

     Furthermore, the number of Honolulu Federal Detention Center inmates should decrease further after President Donald Trump signed a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill called the First Step Act of 2018 in December 2018, which, in part, is aimed to reduce recidivism and decrease the number of inmates currently housed in federal correctional facilities.

     State acquisition of the Honolulu Federal Detention Center would enable it to serve as the new Oahu community correctional center and eliminate the immediate financial burden of building a new state correctional facility.  This will also enable the current Oahu community correctional center site to be vacated by the department of public safety and redesignated for a non-correctional use.

     The legislature further finds that there has long been interest in obtaining the Honolulu Federal Detention Center.  In 2016, House Concurrent Resolution No. 31 requested Hawaii's congressional delegation to assist the State in negotiating with the federal government for the acquisition of the Honolulu Federal Detention Center.

     The purpose of this Act is to appropriate funds for the purchase of the Honolulu Federal Detention Center.

     SECTION 2.  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 2020-2021 to purchase the Honolulu Federal Detention Center for the purpose of housing state detainees and inmates, relieving overcrowding at state jails and prisons, and eliminating the financial costs of leasing bed space for state inmates at the Honolulu Federal Detention Center.

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

     SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2020.



 

Report Title:

Public Safety; Honolulu Federal Detention Center; Appropriation

 

Description:

Appropriates funds to purchase the Honolulu Federal Detention Center.  (HD1)

 

 

 

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