Lingle says jails need replacing
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer
Four crowded Hawai'i jails have fallen into disrepair and must be replaced soon, and at least one new prison is needed to focus on rehabilitation programs, Gov. Linda Lingle said.
The state's community correctional centers, or jails, on Kaua'i, Maui, O'ahu and the Big Island are quickly nearing the end of their useful life and could become money pits, Lingle said yesterday.
"They're simply in disrepair, and they're not a place we'd want to invest a lot more money because they're just not functional," she said.
The facilities were designed to hold much smaller inmate populations. Lingle said she will ask the Legislature during its session next year to approve the first steps toward replacing at least some of them.
The administration also will likely seek construction of at least one 500-bed prison that emphasizes drug abuse treatment, Lingle said.
There has been no decision on where the new prison should be built, but it may be on O'ahu because most Hawai'i inmates are from Honolulu, she said. Earlier indications were that such a facility would be built on the Big Island, and $1.5 million had been approved for planning.
Lingle said new Department of Public Safety director John Peyton was weighing options for the state's correctional system, but no decisions had been made yet.
A study is under way to analyze the inmate population to help determine what facilities and programs are needed, she said. There are more than 5,000 inmates in Hawai'i's correctional system, including about 1,350 in private Mainland prisons contracted by the state.
The study will examine types of crimes, the length of imprisonment required and other factors. It should be completed by November, Lingle said.
"It will help us finalize the proposals that we'll make this year, but you can expect there will be proposals to replace some of the existing jail facilities as well as build a new prison of some kind," Lingle said.
The jails likely will continue to be government-owned and -operated, but the prison could be privatized, she said.
House Speaker Calvin Say said that he was open to considering whatever Lingle might propose, but that the situation was frustrating because Lingle immediately halted plans for a new O'ahu jail after she was elected last year.
"Now we're two years behind already," said Say, D-20th (St. Louis Heights, Palolo, Wilhelmina Rise).
The state has struggled for more than a decade with crowded jails and prisons while drug problems are growing, but has been unable to reach a consensus about new facilities.
Former Gov. Ben Cayetano was negotiating with developers to build a $130 million replacement for the O'ahu Community Correctional Center in Halawa when Lingle asked that the project be shelved so her administration could consider options.
Cayetano also considered building prisons in Arizona and on the Big Island at King's Landing, in Ka'u, and near the Hilo airport.
The state spent more than $2.8 million in the late 1990s preparing plans and environmental reports for a 2,300-bed prison at Kulani, also on the Big Island, but lawmakers never approved money to build it.
Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
