Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Senate committee advances phased plan to bring Hawaiʻi inmates home from out-of-state private prisons
Loading...
Summary
A Senate public-safety committee recommended passage of a bill that would incrementally return incarcerated people housed in private, out-of-state facilities to Hawaiʻi, adopting a phased schedule after testimony on capacity constraints and cultural harms.
The Senate Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs on Thursday recommended passage of House Bill 17-69, HD2, a measure directing the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to incrementally return committed felons housed in private out-of-state correctional facilities to in-state facilities and to report progress to the Legislature.
Supporters told the committee that decades of out-of-state transfers have weakened state accountability and harmed families and Native Hawaiian communities. McKenna Woodward of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs said the policy began as a temporary fix and has become the status quo: "Native Hawaiians continue to bear disproportionate harm in this system," she said, urging phased benchmarks and legislative oversight.
Advocates and service providers cited capacity figures they said demonstrate room at some in-state facilities. Kat Brady of Community Alliance on Prisons pointed to DCR weekly population reports showing operational rates of roughly 38.5% at Koolani and about 49.4% at Waiawa, and urged the committee to seize opportunities to improve classification and use underfilled lower-security units.
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation leadership cautioned against immediate, large-scale returns without additional space and program capacity. Director Johnson warned a rapid transfer could create overcrowding and expose the state to litigation, saying the department "does not think we should bring them back to inhumane conditions" and proposing options such as constructing a new medium-security facility or adding a 248-bed module at Halawa Correctional Facility.
In response, the committee proposed and adopted a phased amendment that reduces near-term return goals (proposed 5% in the first fiscal year, rising to 15% by the third year rather than a single 25% return). The committee recorded the recommendation to pass with those amendments and closed debate on the measure.
The measure will move forward with the committee’s recommended amendments for consideration by the next floor or conference steps.
