Bill Text: HI HR19 | 2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii House Resolution 19 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Incarceration; Rehabilitation

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-02-07 - (H) Referred to PBM, FIN, referral sheet 18 [HR19 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2012-HR19-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	19
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2012
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

requesting the department of public safety to address the high cost of incarceration without rehabilitation by establishing appropriate rehabilitation programs in lieu of incarceration for certain convicted individuals.

WHEREAS, the State's incarceration of certain convicted individuals is a costly method of addressing the issue of crime and punishment; and

WHEREAS, the high cost of incarcerating inmates in Hawaii and in private prisons on the mainland is an expense ultimately paid by the taxpayers of the State; and

WHEREAS, the cost of incarcerating an individual for a year is more than twice the cost of one year of education for a child; and

WHEREAS, the approximate cost to incarcerate a convicted individual is more than $36,500 per year; and to educate a student for a nine-month school year costs approximately $15,000; and

WHEREAS, the corrections budget in Hawaii has grown from $128,000,000 in 2000 to $225,000,000 in 2009; and

WHEREAS, although the costs of incarceration are high, there is little or no return on the money expended for the inmate or the taxpayer; and

WHEREAS, an inmate's family often suffers economically and otherwise while the inmate is incarcerated, particularly the families of inmates who are incarcerated on the mainland; and

WHEREAS, because there is little or no rehabilitation while an inmate is incarcerated, there is little chance of successful reintegration into the community upon the inmate's release from prison; and

WHEREAS, often the only skills learned in prison relate to becoming a more successful criminal upon release, frequently resulting in the individual's eventual return to prison and a further burdening of the taxpayers of the State; and

WHEREAS, changing the State's focus on incarceration to rehabilitation and education creates a winning situation for the convicted individual and the individual's family; and

WHEREAS, the State should reduce its reliance on expensive incarceration for certain convicted individuals and, instead, develop programs that would rehabilitate convicted individuals by teaching job skills and life skills that would lead to employment and successful reintegration into the community upon the individual's completion of the rehabilitation program; and

WHEREAS, in lieu of incarceration, certain eligible convicted individuals could take advantage of rehabilitation programs that would teach business, agricultural, mechanical, carpentry, and other skills; and

WHEREAS, at its recent annual meeting, the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs expressed support for the development of rehabilitation programs for certain eligible convicted individuals in lieu of costly and ineffective incarceration; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2012, that the Department of Public Safety is requested to take steps to address the issue of the high cost of incarceration without rehabilitation by developing rehabilitation programs, offered in lieu of incarceration, to provide eligible convicted defendants with appropriate skills to increase the individual's likelihood of successful re-entry into the community after conviction; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Department of Public Safety is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations relating to the establishment and implementation of rehabilitation programs in lieu of incarceration, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2013; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Public Safety, the Governor, the Chief Justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court, and the President of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, who in turn is requested to transmit copies to the presidents of the other member Hawaiian civic clubs.