Seven prison staff members have been placed on leave or transferred in connection with an investigation by the state attorney general's office into alleged misconduct at the state's only prison for women.

One of the staff members who was transferred or placed on leave is the facility's chief of security, Malcolm Lee, said Louise Kim McCoy, spokeswoman for the state Department of Public Safety.

However, she declined to comment on reports that the investigation involves theft allegations, and refused to say what sort of allegations are being investigated at the Women's Community Correctional Center in Kailua.

"There is a pending investigation involving several personnel who were placed on leave or transferred" about two weeks ago, McCoy said. "We cannot comment any further because the investigation is ongoing."

The prison at 42-477 Kalaniana'ole Highway has about about 260 beds.

May Andrade, the chief of security at Halawa Correctional Facility, has been brought in as the acting warden at WCCC, McCoy said.

She also said Capt. Mark Patterson is the new acting chief of security at WCCC.

McCoy said an internal investigation by Department of Public Safety officials "may follow" the investigation by the attorney general's office.

Christopher Young, deputy attorney general in charge of the attorney general's criminal justice office, declined to discuss the matter or to confirm whether an investigation is under way.

The recent history of the women's facility includes major improvements to get out from under a class-action lawsuit against the state on behalf of inmates there, and those imprisoned at O'ahu Community Correctional Center.

A 1984 lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union claimed the facilities were crowded, lacked medical care for inmates, had little staff training and were unsafe and unsanitary.

In June 1985, the state conceded there were major problems at the two prisons and signed an agreement to fix them.

The agreement, known as the Spear Consent Decree in reference to inmate Agnes Spear, on whose behalf the original suit was filed, led to changes and improvements that were monitored by a team of nationally recognized experts.

The situation at the women's prison improved to the point that the case against it was dismissed in 1998. In March 1999, ACLU representatives agreed with state officials that all consent decree requirements had been sufficiently met at OCCC.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com.