Bill Text: HI SCR33 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii Senate Concurrent Resolution 33 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Federal Detention Center, Honolulu; Hawaii Congressional Delegation

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 14-0)

Status: (Passed) 2016-06-02 - Certified copies of resolutions sent, 06-02-16. [SCR33 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2016-SCR33-Introduced.html

THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	33
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

requesting Hawaii's congressional delegation to assist the state in negotiating with the federal government for the ACQUISITION of the Federal detention center, Honolulu.

WHEREAS, the legislature finds that in 2001, the federal Bureau of Prisons opened the Federal Detention Center, Honolulu; and

WHEREAS, located on the west side of the Honolulu International Airport, the Federal Detention Center, Honolulu houses male and female federal pre-trial detainees, sentenced felons who have almost completed their prison terms, and Hawaii inmates who are awaiting trial in State court, at an occupancy rate far below the facility's total capacity of 1,200 beds; and

WHEREAS, the Federal Detention Center, Honolulu has an efficient vertical design that requires fewer workers to guard inmates, includes integrated state-of-the-art surveillance and management technologies, and accommodates a wide variety of uses including inmate cells, office areas, medical facilities, recreational areas, storage rooms, food preparation areas, laundry, mechanical rooms, security, and communications; and

WHEREAS, the State has struggled for years to find additional capacity for its overcrowded jails and prisons, which were designed to hold a combined total of 2,491 inmates but are currently holding more than 4,100 inmates; and

WHEREAS, replacing or refurbishing state prisons and jails to meet the current demand for adequate space and services would cost an estimated $1,500,000,000 to $2,000,000,000; and

WHEREAS, since June 2001, the State has leased bed space at the Federal Detention Center, Honolulu primarily to relieve jail overcrowding and, since August 2009, has been allowed to house up to 550 male and female inmates at a daily rate of $114 per inmate; and

WHEREAS, state acquisition of the Federal Detention Center, Honolulu for the purpose of housing state inmates, as well as federal pre-trial detainees and federal inmates serving brief sentences, would help relieve overcrowding at state jails and prisons, accommodate the return of some state inmates who are currently serving sentences in a private correctional facility in Arizona, eliminate the immediate financial burden of building a new state correctional facility, and, through the retention of existing Federal Detention Center staff, save the State money on recruiting, hiring, and training of new corrections personnel to serve within the facility; and

WHEREAS, in the event of state acquisition of the Federal Detention Center, Honolulu the Department of Public Safety has expressed interest in an arrangement that would allow for the continued housing of federal pre-trial detainees and federal inmates serving brief sentences at no cost to the federal Bureau of Prisons; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2016, the House of Representatives concurring, that Hawaii's congressional delegation is requested to assist the State in negotiating with the federal government for the acquisition of the Federal Detention Center, Honolulu; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that parties to the negotiations are requested to consider continued housing of federal pre-trial detainees and federal inmates serving brief sentences at the facility, under terms favorable to the federal Bureau of Prisons, as a condition of the State's acquisition of the facility; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the members of Hawaii's congressional delegation, Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and Director of Public Safety.