Jail cited by Texas
for poor standards

The prison housing isle inmates
has a month to implement changes

By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin

The privately run Texas prison housing 435 Hawaii inmates is not complying with that state's minimum jail standards.

The Texas Jail Standards Commission, which regulates the operations of all Texas prisons, has given the Bobby Ross Group, the Austin-based company which manages Newton County Correctional Center, until month's end to implement changes.

Failure to comply could result in closure of the Newton prison, forced reduction in inmate population or change in staffing at the prison, which now houses 870 inmates from Hawaii, Oklahoma and Texas.

The criticism from the Texas panel comes after several months of prison riots and fires which led to a change in management at the Newton prison near the Texas-Louisiana border.

Hawaii Public Safety Director Keith Kaneshiro pointed out that one of the problems of housing inmates in mainland facilities is that they are under someone else's control.

"If all of a sudden the prison closes and they decide the inmates have to leave," Kaneshiro said, "we are stuck."

"That's my urgency in wanting to build a new prison here."

Kaneshiro said he is still satisfied with BRG, pointing out that its leadership "has always been very responsive. We've had a good working relationship with BRG."

Kaneshiro said the root of the prison unrest problem at Newton over the past three months was because inmates felt that if they caused enough problems they would be sent back to Hawaii. He had urged Texas officials to prosecute the offenders.

Kaneshiro was referring to actions by the Newton County district attorney who got a grand jury on Monday to indict 13 Hawaii inmates for their roles in the prison uprising and for trying to escape from the Texas facility.

Eleven Hawaii inmates were indicted for starting a riot on Dec. 7. Three Hawaii inmates were charged with kidnapping and assaulting a corrections officer on Feb. 26.

During the Dec. 7 riot, 11 Hawaii inmates escaped from a dormitory and released nearly 300 other prisoners. During the riot that followed, the inmates started a fire in a control unit causing nearly $300,000 worth of damage.

The Texas Jail Standards Commission's actions prompted BRG to fire Newton Warden Charles Hardy after another riot on Feb. 23, where inmates set fire to the prison's commissary after being tear-gased. Rod Ellis, BRG's director of operations, was named as acting warden.

Areas of concern outlined by the commission included procedures governing emergencies, prisoner classification and prison sanitation.

Ted Sakai, Hawaii Public Safety spokesman, said that in the past, Hawaii corrections officials also have expressed their concern on how prisoners were classified and housed, noting that Newton had too many inmates in minimum security dormitory settings.

The state of Oklahoma has decided to remove all of its 174 inmates from the Newton facility by the end of the week. Oklahoma officials also cited prison unrest and a failure by Texas to prosecute as reasons for pulling out.

Ben Flusche, BRG official, said charges are being developed for the other prison incidents and a "react time" has been established to handle minor disturbances.

At one time, Missouri contracted with Newton County to house 211 inmates, but those convicts were transferred in December.

Since 1995 Hawaii has sent 600 inmates, including 64 women, to four Texas facilities operated by BRG to ease crowded prisons here. More than 4,200 inmates are crowded into Hawaii facilities designed to hold 2,900 inmates.

Kaneshiro plans to send another 600 inmates to the mainland this year. The state would like to build a 2,300-bed medium-security prison at Kau on the Big Island, but has run into fierce resistance from residents there.