HomeMy WebLinkAboutRES 559 Draft 01 2020-2022 JMY'a".®f k'fay
COUNTY OF HAWAIII STATE OF HAWAIII
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RESOLUTION N
A RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE RELOCATION OF THE HAWAII COMMUNITY
CORRECTIONAL CENTER TO AN AREA WHICH WILL PROVIDE MORE SPACE
FOR THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY TO ACCOMMODATE THE
PROPER EXPANSION OF THE FACILITY AND TO BETTER SUPPORT THE NEEDS
OF ITS INMATE POPULATION AND EMPLOYEES.
WHEREAS,the Hawaii Community Correctional Center("HCCC"), exclusive of its
reintegration program at Hale Nani in Pana`ewa, is situated on three acres in Hilo and comprises
three housing modules (Punahele, Komohana and Waianuenue); and
WHEREAS, HCCC—originally called the Hilo County Jail and consisting of an I l-cell
jailhouse built in the 1890s—is located just above Downtown Hilo, nestled within a concentrated
residential area and in close proximity to two schools, Hilo Intermediate School and Hilo High
School; and
WHEREAS, for many years, HCCC has been the most overcrowded correctional facility
in the State of Hawaii with occupancy rates well over 100% of its design capacity of 152
inmates; and
WHEREAS, the Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission("Commission")
issued a report dated September 2, 2022,pertaining to its initial observations and impressions
from its tour of HCCC on August 25, 2022; and
WHEREAS,the report was released earlier than the Commission had originally planned
due to "serious and immediate concern(s) involving the safety of those who work and live at
Hawaii Community Correctional Center"; and
WHEREAS, among other things,the report highlighted overcrowding with an
occupancy rate of 170% (259 head count), severe safety and security concerns, lack of programs
and basic services, the use of a shipping container to house inmates exposed to COVID-19, and a
lack of recreational space as just some of the issues that need to be addressed; and
WHEREAS, in so pointing out,the Commission emphasized that such issues are due to a
"system-failure," and are not attributable to the level of staff output; and
WHEREAS, the Commission expressed its hope that the State Department of Public
Safety would take the report extremely seriously by forming specific strategies and taking
immediate action; and
WHEREAS, construction at HCCC began earlier this year on a$20.7 million expansion
project for a 48-bed (24 cells), 9,275 square-foot module which, according to the State
Department of Public Safety, is intended to "alleviate the severe overcrowding that exists at the
Hawai`i Community Correctional Center in order to provide a safe, secure and humane
environment for the care and custody of adult male and female offenders from Hawai`i Island";
and
WHEREAS, even after the project is completed in 2023 —and assuming that the jail
population does not move up closer to its pre-COVID numbers—the additional beds will still
leave the facility at well over its capacity; and
WHEREAS, the findings and tenor of the report appear to validate the community's
long-standing concerns that the location is no longer compatible to accommodate the needs of
inmates and workers, as well as the collateral impacts to the neighboring area; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII that it is
in the best interests of the Hilo community for the Hawai`i Community Correctional Center to be
relocated to an area which will provide more space for the State Department of Public Safety to
accommodate the proper expansion of the facility and to better support the needs of its inmate
population and employees.
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the County Clerk shall transmit a copy of this
resolution to the Honorable Governor David Y. Ige, the Honorable Lieutenant Governor Dr. Josh
Green, all members of the Senate and House of Representatives, and Director Max N. Otani,
Department of Public Safety
Dated at Kona , Hawai`i, this 19th day of October , 2022 .
INTRODUCED BY:
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COUNCIL MEM':ER, COUNTY OF HAWAII
COUNTY COUNCIL ROLL CALL VOTE
County of Hawai`i AYES NOES ABS EX
Hilo, Hawai`i CHUNG X
DAVID X
I hereby certify that the foregoing RESOLUTION was by INABA X
the vote indicated to the right hereof adopted by the COUNCIL of the NEALI`I-KLEINFELDER X
County of Hawai`i on October 19, 2022 . KAKA KIERKIEWICZ X
KIMBALL X
ATTEST: LEE LOY X
RICHARDS X
VILLEGAS X
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Reference: C-1007 GOREDC-27
CLERK •IRPERSON&PRESIDING OFFICER RESOLUTION NO.
559 22 2