Rising prison costs focus of state plan
| • | Chart: Department of Public Safety operating budget |
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer
The cost of running the state's correctional system and sending inmates to Mainland prisons is steadily rising as officials work on long-range plans that will likely involve building new facilities.
In the meantime, a nascent policy shift to emphasize drug and alcohol abuse treatment programs is slowly building momentum, despite limited financial support.
A key way to reduce the cost of locking up criminals is to help ensure they don't commit new crimes after they're released, the state's top prison official said. Treatment, counseling, and educational programs can be an important part of reducing recidivism.
"A lot of people seem to want to lock them up and forget about them, but they forget that 95 percent are going to be on the streets again some day," Department of Public Safety interim director James Propotnick said. "We'd like to get them out there with a chance to make it."
There are more than 5,000 inmates in Hawai'i's correctional system, including about 1,350 in private Mainland prisons. All the state's jails and prisons are at or over capacity.
Some inmates will never go straight, and the system must be prepared to keep them locked up to ensure public safety, Propotnick cautioned. But some want to clean up their lives, and others may decide to if given an opportunity and a firm nudge, he said.
"When we don't have someone in custody, costs go down for the taxpayer, so a real way to save money is to reduce recidivism," Propotnick said. "People who are living in the community and holding down jobs are also paying taxes and helping the economy."
Prison officials estimate 85 percent of Hawai'i's inmates need some form of drug or alcohol abuse treatment. At the same time, the cost of running the correctional system is climbing fast.
The state has been spending more than $25 million per year on the Mainland prisoners alone, including transportation and medical expenses.
And those costs will almost certainly rise this year because state contracts with the Corrections Corporation of America will soon expire. The department's budget for the coming year includes $28.3 million for Mainland prisoner transfers.
Nearly $70 million will be spent next year to run the state's correctional system, and another $32 million will be spent on related programs and services. Renting cells at the Federal Detention Center near Honolulu airport to ease crowding elsewhere will cost another $2.6 million.
A new state law that took effect nearly a year ago allows some non-violent drug users to be diverted to treatment programs rather than jail, but its effect has been limited so far.
About 120 first-time offenders have been sent to treatment under Act 161, said Ron Hajime, state judiciary administrator of adult client services.
Lawmakers included no additional money for treatment when they passed the measure last year, and none this year either.
"They made the policy shift, but didn't follow through with the resources," Hajime said. "But we recognize that the state is in a precarious financial situation."
The law allows the state Paroling Authority to require that offenders help pay for their treatment if they are able to.
Last year, the Department of Health received an extra $2.2 million to start treatment programs for other non-violent offenders, who have been released from prison and are considered likely to go back unless they get help. Another $2.2 million was budgeted for the coming year.
"We held on to what we had, which is good, but obviously there's a need for much more treatment," said Elaine Wilson, head of the department's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division. "We are very, very aware that it is a very tight budget year."
She said she was glad that residents are becoming more vocal in their fight against drugs, even lining the streets with signs to make it clear they are fed up with methamphetamine and other illicit substances.
"I think the community groups speaking out and taking a stand that they don't want 'ice' houses will help us a lot," Wilson said. "I think that's a real important part of treatment."
Meanwhile, some state correctional facilities need expensive physical repairs and upgrades, and inmate healthcare costs are among the fastest-rising expenses.
Halawa Correctional Facility, the state's largest lockup, does not comply with modern building codes and needs work costing more than $4 million.
Sprinklers, smoke alarms, dry stand pipes and other improvements must be put in to meet fire safety requirements.
"If these are not installed, the state will face serious liability if there is a fire, especially in view of the chronic overcrowding at the facility," the department warned in a report to the Legislature.
Up to three inmates are sometimes locked in cells that were originally designed for one, the report says.
Kulani Correctional Facility, on the Big Island, needs sewer system improvements that are expected to cost $5.3 million. The facility's cesspool system does not meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards, and must be replaced by 2005.
"If the work isn't done, we could be fined up to $75,000 per day or have to close the facility," deputy public safety director Claire Nakamura said. "That would be a very high price to pay."
The cost of prisoner healthcare is expected to increase by nearly $3 million in the next year alone.
Jail and prison medical staffing shortages often force the state to rely on more expensive private providers, according to the report. Costs are further increased because prisoners must be escorted to those facilities by guards on overtime.
But one of the system's most vexing questions is what should be done with the crowded and obsolete O'ahu Community Correctional Center, which officials say has become excessively costly to operate.
The facility has been continually expanded, and houses higher-risk inmates than it was designed for, officials say, requiring more guards than modern jails set up more securely.
Most of the prisoners are men, but the population also includes about 100 females awaiting trial. They are housed in an open barracks, and there are no separate cells to segregate women who cause problems.
Former Gov. Ben Cayetano had considered a plan to replace OCCC by leasing space in a new jail that private developers would build beside the Halawa prison.
But the plan stalled after the proposal exceeded the state's $130 million estimate. Gov. Linda Lingle also asked that the plan be shelved so her administration could weigh more comprehensive and long-term plans for the entire correctional system.
Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona Jr. is overseeing that effort. He declined to be interviewed about the plans because the state's permanent public safety director, John F. Peyton Jr., has not taken office yet, a spokeswoman said. Peyton is expected to arrive by July.
Officials have discussed plans to build as many as three new facilities, including a secure substance abuse treatment center.
Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
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