Hawaiʻi lawmakers passed the state budget Wednesday that includes $30 million to hire a developer to build a new jail to replace the deteriorating and overpopulated Oʻahu Community Correctional Center.
The build cost has been estimated at $1 billion.
But the Reimagining Public Safety Coalition – a group of Hawaiʻi organizations working to reform the state's correction system – said planning for the jail should be paused.
Liam Chinn with the coalition said the funds should go toward services that will reduce the jail population.
“What we're saying is they've already spent upwards of $20 million over the last decade on planning and consultants for this new proposed jail,” he said.
“We're not really sure what's actually come out of that. And now they're proposing another $30 million. So what we're saying is use that money for things like expanding mobile crisis response, expanding respite centers, expanding permanent supportive housing, which is actually our top priority.”
He explained that supportive housing is a top priority because at least 40% of people in jail are homeless. This is part of the coalition’s report on budget recommendations to policymakers. Other priorities included expanding community-based mental health services, investing in youth development, and raising pay for community providers.
“The jail has become the place where we warehouse homeless, mentally ill and people with substance abuse disorder,” Chinn said.
“What we're trying to do is bring a proven evidence-based public health approach to a lot of these problems, which are not criminal problems, because Hawaiʻi is currently in the middle of a public health and housing crisis, and that's what's driving the problems we're seeing on the streets right now.”
However, House Public Safety Committee Chair Della Au Belatti supported the $30 million allocation for the new jail.
“As we look at the building and rebuilding of prisons, facilities, rehabilitation centers across the nation. They cost a lot of money. San Quentin in California is looking at a $239 million appropriation. I can only imagine what they might be getting in other funding as well,” she said on the House floor.
“A $30 million investment in the new prison, where we have the opportunity to continue to push the department to move towards rehabilitation services, is an important step.”
The budget also included $8.2 million for reentry services to assist former inmates with housing and obtaining vital documents.
Earlier this year, the Hawaiʻi Correctional System Oversight Commission issued a letter to Gov. Josh Green calling for a system-wide plan that focuses on rehabilitation before constructing the new jail.
“The commission understands that OCCC needs to be replaced,” said Commission Chair Mark Patterson.
“We feel before you, if you're going to spend a billion dollars, what have you done to the system that feeds the jail? How much of the money that we're giving you are you putting in there to create alternatives to incarceration, or programs that you can put people into rather than putting them in jail?”
The budget will next go to Green for his signature.
