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Officials tell committee Hawaii State Hospital is beyond licensed capacity; plan to increase access must account for forensic demand
Summary
State health officials told the House Committee on Human Services and Homelessness on April 1 that the Hawaii State Hospital currently operates above licensed bed capacity, that a jail-diversion program has enrolled “about 40 to 50” participants, and that any plan to increase access for acutely ill criminal defendants must balance forensic obligations and limited physical space.
Michael Champion, the governor's senior advisor on mental health and the justice system, and Courtney Monlux of the Department of Health told the House Committee on Human Services and Homelessness on April 1, 2026, that the Hawaii State Hospital remains over census and that expanding access for certain criminal defendants will require careful planning.
Monlux, who spoke for the Department of Health, said the hospital’s census is "high" and exceeds licensed beds and that staff are focusing on both the driving factors for admissions and improving discharge processes. "There we're making concerted effort to really look at the driving factors for admissions as well as looking at our processes on discharges," Monlux said, adding that despite improvements "the census remains high." She told lawmakers the department is coordinating with the judiciary, public defenders, prosecutors and community hospitals on a regular basis.
On the jail-diversion program, Monlux said the initiative has enrolled "about 40 to 50, I believe, participants in the program," and that the number was low when the program began in 2023–24. She said the program requires extensive interagency coordination and that the department would like to increase participation.
Monlux also cautioned that expanding civil admissions could raise the hospital census. "We don't want folks to have to commit a crime to be able to get treatment at the state hospital," she said, but added the hospital is obligated to accept forensic patients and has limited usable space for patient care. For that reason, Monlux said, the department must be "very cautious and... selective" about which civil patients it admits.
Michael Champion stood on his written testimony and said he was available for questions as the governor's office crafts a plan to increase access for criminal defendants with acute mental illness. The resolution (HCR 32 / HR 32) asks the governor's senior advisor on mental health and the justice system to formulate such a plan.
The committee voted to move HCR 32 forward without amendments. The measure will proceed for further consideration as the administration and agencies continue work on capacity, jail-diversion expansion and coordination with community hospitals that maintain inpatient psychiatric beds.
The committee’s action advances a process that will ask executive-branch officials to reconcile hospital capacity limits and forensic obligations with proposals to increase access for acutely ill defendants.
