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JMY'a".®f k'fay <br /> COUNTY OF HAWAIII STATE OF HAWAIII <br /> �rF oF•w+'� <br /> RESOLUTION N <br /> A RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE RELOCATION OF THE HAWAII COMMUNITY <br /> CORRECTIONAL CENTER TO AN AREA WHICH WILL PROVIDE MORE SPACE <br /> FOR THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY TO ACCOMMODATE THE <br /> PROPER EXPANSION OF THE FACILITY AND TO BETTER SUPPORT THE NEEDS <br /> OF ITS INMATE POPULATION AND EMPLOYEES. <br /> WHEREAS,the Hawaii Community Correctional Center("HCCC"), exclusive of its <br /> reintegration program at Hale Nani in Pana`ewa, is situated on three acres in Hilo and comprises <br /> three housing modules (Punahele, Komohana and Waianuenue); and <br /> WHEREAS, HCCC—originally called the Hilo County Jail and consisting of an I l-cell <br /> jailhouse built in the 1890s—is located just above Downtown Hilo, nestled within a concentrated <br /> residential area and in close proximity to two schools, Hilo Intermediate School and Hilo High <br /> School; and <br /> WHEREAS, for many years, HCCC has been the most overcrowded correctional facility <br /> in the State of Hawaii with occupancy rates well over 100% of its design capacity of 152 <br /> inmates; and <br /> WHEREAS, the Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission("Commission") <br /> issued a report dated September 2, 2022,pertaining to its initial observations and impressions <br /> from its tour of HCCC on August 25, 2022; and <br /> WHEREAS,the report was released earlier than the Commission had originally planned <br /> due to "serious and immediate concern(s) involving the safety of those who work and live at <br /> Hawaii Community Correctional Center"; and <br /> WHEREAS, among other things,the report highlighted overcrowding with an <br /> occupancy rate of 170% (259 head count), severe safety and security concerns, lack of programs <br /> and basic services, the use of a shipping container to house inmates exposed to COVID-19, and a <br /> lack of recreational space as just some of the issues that need to be addressed; and <br /> WHEREAS, in so pointing out,the Commission emphasized that such issues are due to a <br /> "system-failure," and are not attributable to the level of staff output; and <br /> WHEREAS, the Commission expressed its hope that the State Department of Public <br /> Safety would take the report extremely seriously by forming specific strategies and taking <br /> immediate action; and <br /> WHEREAS, construction at HCCC began earlier this year on a$20.7 million expansion <br /> project for a 48-bed (24 cells), 9,275 square-foot module which, according to the State <br />