New federal detention center to accept first prisoners by July 31
By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer
Federal officials expect to move the first batch of prisoners into the new federal detention center near Honolulu International Airport by July 31, as construction is being finished up.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
The facility, which was designed to hold 670 people, will be used to house those awaiting trial on federal charges and those scheduled for hearings in federal court in Honolulu, said Deborah Westley, executive assistant to Joe W. Booker Jr., detention center warden.
The new detention center near the airport can house up to 670 prisoners and has a permanent staff of about 250 people.
A permanent staff of about 250 people, most of them corrections officers, will operate the 12-story center on Elliott Street.
All detention-center inmates will be required to work, Westley said, unless they have medical exemptions.
"We have a wide variety of jobs for them, including tutors, adult continuing-education teachers, food service, laundry, medical, landscaping and so on," Westley said.
Inmates will be paid 12 cents an hour.
At present, federal prisoners are housed within the state prison system if their court appearances are near. Otherwise, they are sent to a federal prison on the Mainland to wait for their next court appearance, and then flown back to Hawai'i.
People convicted of crimes in federal court will still be transported to the Mainland to serve their prison sentences.
The detention-center warden and assistant warden have been here since last July and August, respectively, Westley said.
"We're still moving in the furniture, but the July 31 date looks pretty firm," he said.
