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State limits pre-arraigned
prisoners from Kauai

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By Anthony Sommer
Star-Bulletin

LIHUE -- Faced with continuing overcrowding, state corrections officials have placed a limit on the number of pre-arraignment prisoners they will accept from the Kauai Police Department.

So far, Police Chief George Freitas said, the limit has not caused problems.

Pre-arraignment prisoners typically spend only one night in jail awaiting their initial appearance in court, where bail is set. Those arrested on weekends spend several nights. Once bail is set, they either post a bond or are turned over to the state to await trial.

State law requires each county to provide jail facilities for pre-arraignment prisoners. Kauai is the only county that does not have a jail. The Kauai Community Corrections Center, a state facility, has been housing the island's pre-arraignment prisoners without charging the county.

No one is sure how long the state has been giving free prison space to the county. There appears to be no written agreement. Usually, when one jurisdiction holds a prisoner for another, it sends out a bill for the prisoner's care.

"There was a county jail, long before my time. I've been told that it disappeared in a long-ago land swap with the state. As part of the deal, the state supposedly agreed to take care of the prisoners, but I've never seen anything in writing and it may be more lore than fact," Freitas said.

In 1993, the state gave Kauai County notice it must build its own cellblock, according to prison warden Neal Wagatsuma. The county never took steps toward building it.

Finally, in November, Wagatsuma told the police department he would provide only two cells instead of unlimited space. Each cell has two beds; a third prisoner can sleep on the floor.

"Our space is very limited. If the two cells are full, the police will have to activate their own facilities," Wagatsuma said.

"Holding the county's pre-arraignment prisoners is a courtesy we have provided for many, many years but we're running out of space."

The existing Kauai police "facilities" consist of two bare holding cages at the main police station. No one on the Kauai Police Department has any training in prison work.

"The Kauai police are going to have to learn about security measures and dealing with medical emergencies," Wagatsuma noted.

Prior to the limitation, Kauai police averaged between 55 and 65 pre-arraignment confinements per month. The number dropped to 30 in November, the month the two-cell limit was imposed, and climbed to 45 in December, according to prison records.

"I've been assured that no one who is a threat to the community is being turned loose," said County Councilman Gary Hooser, chairman of the Council's Public Safety Committee.

A six-cell jail facility is planned as part of the new police headquarters scheduled to be completed by mid-2002.