Cayetano considers
Tulsa for new prison

If approved, the move would
free up money for other needs, he says

By Pat Omandam
Star-Bulletin

Gov. Ben Cayetano said his administration is studying how much money the state would save if it housed prisoners on an Indian reservation in Tulsa, Okla.

The state would have to pay up to $180 million to build a new prison in Hawaii.

Cayetano -- after a pre-session meeting yesterday with state House majority members -- said that if lawmakers do not agree this session with his plan to sign a long-term lease to house inmates on the mainland, he would have to divert state construction money from schools and other projects to build one here.

"I basically told them it would cost us about $150 million to $180 million to build (here), and therefore what it meant was we would have to set aside or delay plans to build schools and other kind of facilities which they feel may be more important," Cayetano said.

"But in the end, I told them the decision as to where we put the prison is really in your hands because even though you authorized me to choose the site, if you don't give me the money, then the authorization is meaningless."

Lawmakers open to the idea

Cayetano added it would cost between $40 and $46 a day to house a prisoner in Tulsa, compared with more than a $100 a day here, when you include the costs of fringe benefits and debt service.

That $54 savings per inmate could go back into the state economy and help create jobs, he said.

House Speaker Calvin Say (D, Palolo) said representatives are open to the governor's mainland proposal. But along with the cost, the House is looking at it from a "humanistic view" of inmates being kept far away from their families.

Foremost for legislators is what to do with the 1,200 inmates now in four mainland prisons, Say said. The contract to keep them there expires in 16 months, and the $46-a-day cost per inmate is expected to rise under a new contract.

Public Safety Director Ted Sakai said yesterday the plan is to renegotiate a contract because there is no place to house the inmates if they are returned here.

Sakai confirmed the state is talking with an Indian nation in Tulsa about building a prison there that Hawaii would lease. He said the price per inmate is still under negotiation, but within the $46 price range the governor spoke of.

"We're still talking with people there. We don't have anything specific nailed down yet," Sakai said.

"What we'd like them to do is build a prison, and we'd have a long-term agreement so we would have first dibs, so to speak," he said.

The House remains open to any private contractor or developer who want to build and operate a prison in Hawaii, Say said. To date, none have been seriously considered.

But before that can happen, the House and Senate must agree on a site. Say said the House is ready to support any site the Senate is willing to agree on.

The governor has said opposition in the Senate to a proposed 2,300-bed prison near the Kulani prison camp on the Big Island forced him to look to the mainland.

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http://www.hawaii.gov/