Bill Text: HI HR122 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii House Resolution 122 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Corrections Population Management Commission; Public Safety

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-03-18 - (H) The committee(s) recommends that the measure be deferred. [HR122 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2010-HR122-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	122
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2010
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

REQUESTING THE CORRECTIONS POPULATION MANAGEMENT COMMISSION TO RESUME ITS MEETINGS AND TO MEET AT LEAST QUARTERLY.

WHEREAS, the Corrections Population Management Commission was established by Act 343, Session Laws of Hawaii 1993; and

WHEREAS, the Commission was expanded from eight to eleven members, to represent all three branches of state government, the county departments of the prosecuting attorney, and two community representatives; and

WHEREAS, the objective of the Commission is "to establish maximium inmate population limits for each correctional facility and to formulate policies and procedures to prevent the inmate population from exceeding the capacity of each correctional facility"; and

WHEREAS, the Commission is administratively attached to the Department of Public Safety; and

WHEREAS, the closure of Kulani Correctional Facility should have been brought before and discussed by the Commission; and

WHEREAS, the Commission failed to hold meetings from 2003 to 2008, as required by law; and

WHEREAS, when the Commission began meeting again in 2008, the Department of Public Safety failed to distribute population reports to the Commission; and

WHEREAS, the Commission has been denied input on important decisions relating to the corrections population in facilities located in Hawaii and out-of-state; and

WHEREAS, the Commission was excluded from the discussion and decision to close Kulani Correctional Facility; and

WHEREAS, the Commission was established by law to assist the State in satisfying the requirements of a consent decree, which was the result of the 1985 lawsuit regarding overcrowding in correctional facilities; and

WHEREAS, the placement of fifty-four per cent of Hawaii's corrections population in private prisons on the continental United States should be a matter of discussion and debate for the Commission; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2010, that the Corrections Population Management Commission is requested to resume its meetings and to meet at least quarterly to carry out its objectives; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Public Safety is requested to distribute population reports and other relevant population information at Commission meetings; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in the interest of full public disclosure, the Department of Public Safety is requested to make all handouts, population reports, and related information available on its website; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Director of Public Safety, the Chairperson of the Corrections Population Management Commission, the Chairperson of the Public Safety Committee of the House of Representatives, the Chairperson of the Public Safety and Military Affairs Committee of the Senate, and the Attorney General.