Posted at 10 a.m., Thursday, August 9, 2001

Inmate has new jail all to himself

Associated Press

The new Federal Detention Center near Honolulu International Airport has its first inmate.

The unidentified low-security trusty is near the end of his sentence. He moved in Monday and is helping clean the facility that will house pretrial detainees, officials said.

The $65 million detention center opened July 1. A private blessing is scheduled for Aug. 16.

The 12-story building is designed to hold 670 prisoners and has a permanent staff of about 250.

Federal suspects are now housed in the state prison system if their court appearances are near. Otherwise, they are sent to federal facilities on the mainland and flown back to Hawaii for hearings and trials.

If convicted of crimes and sentenced to prison, inmates will continue to be transferred to federal prisons on the mainland to serve there terms.