Kaua'i prison remains on 'semi-lockdown' until January

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau

LIHU'E, Kaua'i — Minimum-security inmates at the Kaua'i Community Correctional Center will remain on "semi-lockdown status" until January, when the facility expects to have a revised program in place for them, said Warden Neal Wagatsuma.

The heightened security took effect at the beginning of the month after a number of inmates tested positive for drug use. An investigation into how prisoners obtained methamphetamines is in the hands of police and state corrections officials.

Wagatsuma removed 14 inmates from the jail's Lifetime Stand program, which allows low-security inmates special privileges such as being outdoors, working in a prison garden and participating in work-release and community service projects. The prisoners must commit to honesty, respect and changing the behavior that landed them in jail.

One prison employee who was not on the security staff has been placed on leave pending an investigation of allegations the employee provided the drugs to the inmates.

Meanwhile, the remaining 73 inmates, including 13 women, in the Lifetime Stand program are being allowed limited freedom. All off-site work release and most community service work has been canceled, the warden said.

Wagatsuma developed the program, which initially resembled a military boot camp, with inmates marching in formation and doing calisthenics on the lawns around the prison. The regimen has eased over time, and Wagatsuma said the problem with drug use will mean a return to a stricter program.