Bill Text: HI HCR129 | 2015 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Out-of-State, Contracted Correctional Facilities; Audit; Commissaries

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-16 - Referred to PBS, FIN, referral sheet 33 [HCR129 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2015-HCR129-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	129
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

Requesting the auditor to conduct a financial audit of commissary operations at out-of-state correctional facilities contracted to house hawaii inmates.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that commissaries at correctional facilities provide an opportunity for inmates to purchase goods for personal use, such as sundries, hygiene products, and food; and

 

     WHEREAS, the prices of goods at correctional facility commissaries are often higher than those found in public retail stores, and the Legislature is concerned that the markups at these commissaries may be excessive; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii inmates that have been transferred to the contracted Saguaro Correctional Facility in Eloy, Arizona, are charged an extra four percent on all commissary orders as payment toward restitution and they also pay Arizona's sales tax, in excess of nine percent, on all commissary purchases; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii inmates owing restitution currently have twenty-five percent deducted from their inmate accounts each month; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, the Senate concurring, that the Auditor is requested to conduct a financial audit of commissary operations at out-of-state correctional facilities contracted to house Hawaii inmates based on information obtained pursuant to the contract; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the audit shall include, but not be limited to, determining:

(1)  The total annual revenues generated from the sales of commissary items during the fiscal year immediately preceding the audit;

 

(2)  The total annual expenditures incurred for the operation and maintenance of each commissary during the fiscal year immediately preceding the audit;

 

(3)  The criteria used to select the type of items that are stocked and made available at commissaries;

 

(4)  The method used to determine the price of items sold to inmates at commissaries; and

 

(5)  Any contractual agreement where a party other than the state operates the commissary to identify any controls on pricing and profits; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor is requested to submit a report of its findings, recommendations, and actions to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the commencement of the Regular Session of 2016; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Auditor and the Director of Public Safety.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Out-of-State, Contracted Correctional Facilities; Audit; Commissaries