In an effort to quickly close the state's Kulani Correctional Facility on the Big Island, prison officials burned thousands of records in a large open pit last year.

Also destroyed were sex magazines and videos that had been used in the treatment of sex offenders.

The open burn of what some said were tons of records happened in November, according to officials who testified at a special hearing of the Senate Public Safety Committee.

“;We have confirmed that there were violations of state law, county ordinances, an emergency declaration and violations of administrative rules,”; committee Chairman Will Espero said.

Kulani prison was closed to save the state $2.8 million a year.

Most of the records destroyed, according to state officials, were duplicate records or summaries of records, some going back 20 years.

  Kulani prison employees shock court

 

Testimony regarding the burning of records at Kulani Prison shocked state senators.

 

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“;I don't think they were trying to hide anything. ... It just seems like they were acting without thinking,”; Espero said.

After the hearing, Espero said he still was unable to pinpoint who ordered the burning of the documents.

An official with the Health Department's Clean Air Enforcement Branch said they were investigating the open burning without a permit, but have not completed the investigation.

State law requires that all state agencies have a plan for the retention or destruction of state records.

Clayton Frank, public safety director, said the burning appeared to be the result of “;poor communications.”;

“;Apparently, there was a breakdown. ... What we are looking at from our angle is communications, whether there were any written or verbal instructions.

“;If we are going to engage in this type of activity, we should be doing our homework first,”; Frank said after the hearing.

Republican Sen. Fred Hemmings said, “;The whole thing was a tempest in a hibachi.”;

Tommy Johnson, deputy public safety director, first ordered that pornographic magazines, pictures and videotapes be burned because they were no longer used in the treatment of sex offenders. Kulani officials burned those in an oil drum, but then someone dug a 10-by-10-foot pit and started burning documents for several days.

“;I think mistakes were made,”; Johnson said. “;It could have been handled better, but nothing was destroyed to hide anything.”; Johnson added that he didn't know about the pit burning until he was contacted by a reporter.