Mainland prison
plan revived

An official says it may
affect rehabilitation

By Pat Omandam
Star-Bulletin

The chairman of the Hawaii Paroling Authority says renewed plans by the state administration to build or lease a prison on the mainland may affect the rehabilitation of inmates.

Chairman Al Beaver said Gov. Ben Cayetano has resumed talks with Arizona officials about a medium-security prison there instead of the Big Island due to the "not in my back yard" mentality of some Hawaii residents.

Beaver noted it is easier for family and friends to visit inmates here, where they can encourage inmates in rehabilitation programs.

Cayetano said he must decide soon whether the state will build a 2,300-bed prison near the Kulani prison camp on the Big Island. As of yesterday, he admitted being swayed against the idea.

But the governor said the main reason for doing so is because an environmental impact statement of the Kulani site has raised issues. But to comply with environmentalists' demands may delay the project or drive up the cost of construction, he said.

Beaver said: "Sooner or later, we're going to need one because what we got now is not doing the job.

"So we're taking our taxpayers' money and we're creating jobs and improving the economy somewhere else. It's an evil that we need to live with and deal with it. And I'm very surprised and even shocked that we have people in the community that won't accept this fact."

"I'm tired of fighting these battles," Cayetano said. "You go to the mainland, you can build it in the middle of a desert, nobody cares and we'll do it cheaper."

While Cayetano has not completely backed out of the Big Island proposal, he said there is growing resistance to the idea.

"I'm stepping back and I'm asking my prison people, 'Do you want to be on the Big Island after all?' " he said.

Both Public Safety Director Ted Sakai and Attorney General Earl Anzai are on the mainland meeting with prison officials in Arizona and New Mexico, according to House Public Safety Chairman Nestor Garcia (D, Waipahu). They are expected to visit Arizona counties in Yuma and Kingman, as well as a county in New Mexico.

Both are expected back Monday.

"In my read of it, the governor has all but ruled out the Big Island," Garcia said.

Garcia said it is important the state make a decision soon about a new prison because the current contract to house inmates on the mainland expires in two years. It takes about 18 months to build a new medium-security prison in Yuma, he said.

There were 1,182 Hawaii male and female inmates in four mainland prisons as of Sept. 21. They are in Oklahoma, Minnesota and Tennessee. The state prison population was at 3,562 as of Sept. 27.

The governor wanted the new facility near the Kulani prison on Mauna Loa, but the Legislature did not fund his $130 million request for construction money. Instead, it funded just the impact statement study.