Bill Text: HI HB367 | 2017 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Relating To Appropriations To The Office Of The Prosecuting Attorney Of The County Of Hawaii.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-02-09 - Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on FIN with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Ito excused (1). [HB367 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2017-HB367-Amended.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
367 |
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TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2017 |
H.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO APPROPRIATIONS TO THE OFFICE OF THE PROSECUTING ATTORNEY OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that juvenile crime and recidivism are precursors to adult criminal activity and can lead to dependency upon social services in adulthood, which comes at a cost to the youth, their families, the community, and taxpayers. Immediate assessment and intervention plays a vital role in disrupting or halting this progression.
To improve outcomes for youth and to protect public safety, the Big Island juvenile intake and assessment center (BIJIAC) was developed and implemented in east Hawaii county in 2013. The mission of BIJIAC is to:
(1) Prevent and reduce delinquent behavior by providing an immediate assessment upon intake and refer youth to appropriate community services; and
(2) Assist law enforcement and improve public safety by providing a safe location for youth in police custody, allowing officers to return to patrol duties.
For the past three contract years with the office of the prosecuting attorney of the county of Hawaii, BIJIAC has served a total of six hundred twenty-seven youth (three hundred twenty-eight boys and two hundred ninety-nine girls) at an annual estimated cost of $947 per youth. Of youth served, only four per cent had a new arrest or delinquent offense. In contrast, in 2013, the annual cost of a bed at the Hawaii youth correctional facility was $199,320, and seventy-five per cent of youth released were re-adjudicated as delinquent or convicted as adults of new crimes within three years of release.
The purpose of this Act is to expand BIJIAC services to a location in west Hawaii county. Currently, when youth are picked up by police in west Hawaii county, they are processed at the police station and then released to a parent or guardian when one is located and available. Youth do not receive an immediate intervention or referral to appropriate community services, and a youth's court appearance is typically several months later, providing no immediate accountability for the offense and increasing the probability of continued unhealthy or unsafe behavior. In addition, the arresting officer must remain with the youth, sometimes for hours, until the parent or guardian arrives, thereby preventing the officer from returning to patrol duties.
Youth arrested in west Hawaii county are sometimes transported to BIJIAC in east Hawaii county, as time and staffing allow. This entails a relay method in which the arresting officer drives to the end of the officer's patrol district and transfers custody of the youth to an officer of the neighboring district who then drives through that patrol district and transfers custody of the youth to an officer of the neighboring district, and so on, a process that includes four transfers in total. The driving distance through police districts from west Hawaii county to the current east Hawaii county BIJIAC location is one hundred miles each way, with a drive time of two hours and twenty minutes, increasing the impact on public safety and resources.
SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2017-2018 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2018-2019 for the expansion of the Big Island juvenile intake and assessment center, including the hiring of necessary staff.
The sums appropriated shall be expended by the office of the prosecuting attorney of the county of Hawaii for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050.
Report Title:
County of Hawaii; Office of the Prosecuting Attorney; Big Island Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center; Appropriations
Description:
Appropriates funds for the Big Island Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center of the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney of the County of Hawaii. (HB367 HD1)
The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
