State team readies
report on building
mainland prison

Officials say legal issues
may arise if a prison is
placed on Indian land

By Craig Gima
Star-Bulletin

State Public Safety Director Ted Sakai says he still needs to investigate legal issues before a prison housing Hawaii inmates can be built on an Indian reservation on the mainland.

Sakai and Attorney General Earl Anzai returned to their offices yesterday after a trip to several potential prison sites on the mainland. They met with officials and looked at sites in several cities and counties, including Yuma County and the city of Kingman in Arizona and a county in New Mexico, as well as "more than one" Indian reservation, Anzai said.

Sakai said all the officials they met with welcome a prison.

"For every place we visited, it's a matter of economic development," he said.

He said, however, they were not able to get an idea of the community sentiment toward a prison in the different locations. "We were assured the communities would support us, but that's something we really need to ascertain before we can go forward," he said.

Sakai and Anzai are preparing a report for Gov. Ben Cayetano on the advantages and disadvantages of each site. Sakai said he still needs to learn more about tribal laws and other issues before he can evaluate how feasible it would be to house Hawaii prisoners on Indian land.

"Why not?" asked Sen. Andy Levin (D, Kau) when he learned about the possibility of building a prison on Indian land on the mainland. Levin, co-chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, has been a leading opponent of building a medium-security prison on the Big Island.

Last week, Cayetano cited Levin's opposition to the prison as one of the reasons why he is leaning against building a 2,300-bed facility near the current Kulani prison near Hilo.

"I am perfectly happy to take the blame or credit for it (not building a prison on the Big Island)," Levin said. He added that he is still open to building a prison in Hawaii if someone can find an area where there is community support for it.

Two years ago, the Legislature gave Cayetano the authority to negotiate for a privately built prison. But any lease agreement or monies for the facility must still be approved by the Legislature.

House Public Safety Chairman Nestor Garcia would prefer a prison in Hawaii, but he believes it's more important to make a decision and build a prison.

"The bottom line is making sure we have adequate prison capacity and those who have to be locked up are locked up," he said.

Sakai said he would like to see a prison built in less than two years, before the current contract to house Hawaii prisoners in several mainland facilities expires.

Anzai said the next step, should the governor pick a site on the mainland, is to negotiate the details of a Hawaii prison on the mainland.

Anzai said they have only talked about general details of the various prison proposals. "Until we get a little more direction, we don't want to really start negotiating the sticky issues," he said.

He believes a prison could be built and Hawaii inmates could move into a prison on the mainland in about 18 months.

Garcia said last week that companies have told him they could build and house prisoners on the mainland for a cost of about $40 per day per inmate. That's about what the state pays now to house inmates in Hawaii.