A decade of Hawai'i prison policy
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From the mid-1970s through the 1980s, Hawai'i experienced a fourfold increase in the state’s incarceration rate, leading to chronic prison overcrowding.
December 1995 — Citing major cost savings, Gov. Ben Cayetano and corrections officials lease first Mainland prison beds, sending 300 prisoners to two Texas jails.
January 1996 — Two firms express interest in Cayetano's suggestion for private minimum-security prison on Big Island, but no prison is built.
January 1997 — In State of the State address, Cayetano pushes for 1,000 new prison beds within two years. Companies show interest but no facility is built.
March 1997 — Cayetano proposes privately built prison at 500-acre site south of Hilo or 125-acre former feedlot at Campbell Industrial Park on O'ahu. Nothing happens.
May 1997 — Hawai'i sends another 300 prisoners to Texas, including first shipment of 64 women to Crystal City Correctional Center near San Antonio.
January 1998 — Cayetano announces that state may buy Mainland prison or build one on Mainland or in Hawai'i. No prison is built or bought.
July/October 1998 — Hawai'i doubles number of inmates housed on Mainland with transfer of 600 inmates to private prisons in Oklahoma, Tennessee and Minnesota, all operated by Corrections Corp. of America. The state now pays $20 million per year for Mainland prison space.
1998 — Department of Public Safety officials predict continued inmate transfers until planned 2,300-bed prison opens on Big Island by 2002.
1999 — Legislature rejects governor's request for $130 million to build prison near Kulani on Big Island. Cayetano says state may use private company to build prison near Las Vegas and may have to release inmates early to ease overcrowding until then. Officials tour potential sites in Arizona and New Mexico.
2000 — Hawai'i officials negotiate with Native American tribe to build 2,300-bed prison in Oklahoma, but lawmakers reject Cayetano's request for $6 million in "earnest money."
2001 — Cayetano abandons plans for new prison, saying he will deal with overcrowding by placing inmates in treatment programs or Mainland facilities.
2002 — Lawmakers provide money to send 150 more inmates to Mainland prisons. Department of Public Safety warns of early releases if prison overcrowding isn't eased at home.
2003 — Gov. Lingle announces Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona is developing plan to create more prison space via partnerships with private sector, while affirming commitment to bring inmates back to Hawai'i.
May 2003 — Prison officials announce $1.5 million planning study to evaluate potential sites for 600-bed "secure treatment facility" on Big Island. Similar facility also planned for O'ahu, with separate center for women. Some of the $1.5 million is used for long-term planning, but most of the money goes unspent.
2004 — Lingle administration requests money to move 200 more inmates to Mainland over next two years. Lawmakers allocate $1 million to plan new in-state correctional treatment facility.
January 2005 — Lingle administration asks lawmakers for $26.7 million over next two years to send 700 more men and women to Mainland prisons. If approved, it would have brought total of Hawai'i inmates in Mainland facilities to 2,300-plus, more than in-state prison population.
May 2005 — Lawmakers provide money to transfer 250 inmates out of state. Public safety officials say they will return in 2006 to seek additional money.
September 2005 — Total of 1,828 Hawai'i inmates are held in prisons in Oklahoma, Mississippi, Arizona and Kentucky at annual cost of $36 million.
Department of Public Safety officials are discussing plans for a new correctional treatment facility somewhere in Hawai'i, and for more minimum-security or community beds that could house some inmates now on the Mainland. However, acting public safety director Frank Lopez said he doesn't expect the Mainland inmates will be returned to Hawai'i in the next four to eight years.
