HR 148: Requesting the dEPARTMENT of corrections and rehabilitation to incrementally AND SYSTEMATICALLY reduce the number of inmates incarcerated in private, out-of-state correctional facilities.

HOUSE RESOLUTION

Requesting the dEPARTMENT of corrections and rehabilitation to incrementally AND SYSTEMATICALLY reduce the number of inmates incarcerated in private, out-of-state correctional facilities.

     WHEREAS, the State has relied on contracted private, for-profit, out-of-state correctional facilities to house a significant portion of the State's inmate population for more than two decades; and

     WHEREAS, inmates who serve their sentences in these out-of-state facilities are effectively exiled thousands of miles away from their families, friends, and crucial support networks; and

     WHEREAS, the adverse effects of incarcerating inmates outside the State were recognized by the Legislature and the former Department of Public Safety even before the State began the practice of contracting with private prisons on the mainland; and

     WHEREAS, when the Legislature passed Act 208, Session Laws of Hawaii 1994 (Act 208), which authorized the transfer of inmates to privately operated correctional facilities outside the State, it did so with the clear intent that the former Department of Public Safety would not transfer individuals with strong community ties to Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, this clear intent of the Legislature has largely been ignored over the last few decades, and concerns regarding the significant detrimental impact that interstate transfers would have on inmates have turned out to be true; and

WHEREAS, the problem of prison overcrowding continues to persist even though Act 208 was enacted specifically to alleviate this issue, and larger problems with the use of mass incarceration have increased since Act 208 was enacted; and

WHEREAS, it is imperative that the State phase out the practice of transferring inmates to privately-operated mainland correctional facilities; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2025, that the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is requested to incrementally and systematically reduce the number of inmates incarcerated in private, out-of-state correctional facilities; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is requested to submit to the Legislature, no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular sessions of 2027, 2028, 2029, and 2030, a report of its progress in reducing the number of inmates incarcerated in private, out-of-state correctional facilities; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor and Director of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Report Title: 

Inmates; Private, Out-of-state Correctional Facilities; Reduction

STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1885

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2025

RE:   H.R. No. 148

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Madame:

     Your Committee on Public Safety, to which was referred H.R. No. 148 entitled:

"HOUSE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION TO INCREMENTALLY AND SYSTEMATICALLY REDUCE THE NUMBER OF INMATES INCARCERATED IN PRIVATE, OUT-OF-STATE CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to request the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to incrementally and systematically reduce the number of inmates incarcerated in private, out-of-state correctional facilities.

     Your committee received testimony from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation providing comments, and the ACLU Hawaii which strongly supports the resolution and provided comments.

     Your committee finds that the State has relied on contracted private, for-profit, out-of-state correctional facilities to house a significant portion of the State's inmate population for more than two decades.  Your committee also finds that housing inmates this far away from their families continues to cause adverse effects on their reentry and reintegration back into community.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of H.R. No. 148 and recommends its adoption.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety,