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Officials propose
new prison in Halawa

The 1,100-bed facility would
replace OCCC and be built
next to an existing prison


By Richard Borreca
rborreca@starbulletin.com

Fearing continued prison overcrowding, state officials are exploring building a new 1,100-bed prison in Halawa Valley next to the existing 1,200-bed correctional institution.

The move comes after a private group pitched a plan in January to build a prison without cost to the state and lease it to the state.

Yesterday, the state called for proposals to design and build a prison at Halawa.

The prison would replace the Oahu Community Correction Center in Kalihi.

"We would like to build a more modern, more secure facility," said Ted Sakai, state public safety director.

"What we are doing is asking for developers to front the money with the state coming in later to pay it off," Sakai said.

As of last week, there were 952 prisoners at OCCC and 1,200 at the Halawa facility.

The plan requested by the state is similar to one suggested to the state in a January meeting with state officials, legislators, representatives of four firms and attorney Bert Kobayashi Jr.

The firms, clients of the law firm of Kobayashi Sugita and Goda, include Durrant-Media Five, Melvyn Y.K. Choy, managing partner; Municipal Capital Markets Group, Norman E. Wirkler, president; Foresite Capital Facilities Corp., James Anderson, senior vice president; and Group M, Edison Miyawaki and Kale Ane, principals.

Sakai said that although one developer has come forward, there could be others interested in the proposal, so a formal request for proposals was sent out.

"There are developers who can get financing packages," Sakai said.

"This is to address the problems specific with OCCC: It is old, it is not secure and it takes a lot of staff.

"It is in the wrong place, in a commercial area with heavy traffic," Sakai said.

Rep. Nestor Garcia, chairman of the House Public Safety Committee, said the state is facing severe overcrowding not only on Oahu, but at the prisons on Maui and the Big Island.

"We have to do something to expand prison capacity," Garcia (D, Waipahu) said.

The Durrant-Group M proposal, pushed by attorney Kobayashi, calls for building a 1,100-bed facility and an 88-bed "super-maximum-security prison" at a cost of $85 million.

The plan then calls for a second phase, with a 232-bed maximum/medium-security facility and a 300-bed jail at a cost of $31 million.

Under this proposal, according to the January presentation, the first phase would cost the state $6.2 million a year, with Phase 2 costing an extra $2.2 million.

The private proposal notes that it already costs $20 million a year to operate OCCC. Also, the new facility would take 67 fewer staff members, at a savings of $2 million a year in salaries.

The private proposal also figured that the cost of maintaining a new facility would be less than the prison at OCCC. And more facilities such as a cafeteria and laundry could be combined for increased savings.



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