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Senate committees pass three corrections resolutions on visitation, staff counseling and Halawa facility planning
Summary
Senators unanimously passed SCR20, SCR21 and SCR26, asking the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to review visitation policies, make clinical counseling available to staff, and include courts and controlled release procedures in the planning of the new Oʻahu community correctional center.
The Senate passed three corrections resolutions March 10 directing the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DOCR) to take studies or planning actions aimed at inmate-family contact, staff supports and facility design.
SCR 20 asks DOCR to reevaluate in-person contact and visitation policies at correctional facilities to better support incarcerated people maintaining connections with loved ones who can assist rehabilitation. Kristen Johnson, oversight coordinator for the Hawai‘i Correctional System Oversight Commission, testified the commission strongly supports the measure.
SCR 21 requests that DOCR make clinical counseling services available to correctional facility staff separate from inmate mental-health resources; Johnson and other witnesses stood on written testimony in support.
SCR 26 requests that DOCR include circuit and district court facilities in planning and designing the new Oʻahu Community Correctional Center in Halawa and to establish a release procedure that transfers released detainees or inmates to non‑residential locations rather than immediate release into public spaces. Rod Miley, administrative director for the state courts, testified in support; the committee recorded support from the oversight commission as well.
All three resolutions were passed as recommended by the committee without amendments. Committee roll calls recorded multiple “aye” votes from the named members present.
