In a recent interview with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Gov. David Ige answered a question about Hawaii’s prison system by saying he favors finding a private partner to invest in a new facility here.

It was an unscripted moment with political columnist Richard Borreca, but it was one that raised eyebrows in the social service and legal professions. Among the critics of this notion are those worried about the growth of a private prison industry in Hawaii, replicating a trend that has proliferated across the mainland.

To conclude that both positions are correct is not as incongruous as it appears. Hawaii does need to replace its aging prisons with more efficiently designed facilities, but lacks the public resources to do so. At the same time, the state should reduce its prison population, replacing incarceration with strategies for addressing social problems that have better potential for salvaging troubled lives.

When asked what he thought of prospects for prison improvements, Ige said he had visited all the state facilities and found them antiquated.

"Part of the cost of housing prisoners is a function of how poorly designed and how old the facilities are," he said. "We need to make an investment in the prison system. I do think it is an opportunity for public-private partnership."

The governor observed that the state has a mainland private-partner facility to which Hawaii prisoners are sent. Investing instead in a new prison in Hawaii, on state-owned land, would help fulfill a longstanding goal of bringing prisoners back to the islands, where they can more easily maintain family ties through more frequent visitation.

"It would allow us to build a modern facility, it would help reduce the cost," he added. "There is a way to fashion a win-win that would allow us to move forward."

Not everyone sees a "win-win." Lorenn Walker and Bob Merce, respectively a public health educator and a former state attorney general, argue that education programs could go much further in deterring crime, and that this is where state resources should go ("Hawaii needs fewer prisoners, not more prisons," Star-Advertiser, Island Voices,  Jan. 7).

However, now would be an opportune time to replace the poorly sited and crumbling Oahu Community Correctional Center in Kalihi. Its location along the route of the Honolulu rail project would be more suitable for transit-oriented development, with a new, modern prison moved to a place that’s more off the beaten path.

Now is the time, but where is the money? The governor is correct to suggest that a partnership would be an opportune solution.

This does not mean that the state should embark on an expansionary prison program. Starting with OCCC makes sense, and then future replacement plans could be made in tandem with a program to streamline the system.

Those who say private, profit-making prisons often lead to laws and enforcement policies that aim to drive a larger population to fill the beds raise a valid concern, one borne out in research. But leaving the management of prisons strictly in the hands of government hasn’t worked very well either. Witness the practice of sick-leave abuse by staff in public prisons here. Too often, families have been deprived of visitation days because of staffing shortages — a serious problem state administrators seem powerless to solve.

Walker and Merce cite successful programs in several states aimed at winnowing prison facilities. In particular, California has moved aggressively to keep those convicted of petty theft and other lesser nonviolent crimes out of prison. It’s a scheme expected to save hundreds of millions of dollars to be funneled into education.

Of course any successful corrections strategy must include these kinds of solutions, and the Legislature should continue to pursue them when it convenes later this month. 

Already Hawaii has seen success in probation alternatives such as Project HOPE. The juvenile justice reforms enacted through House Bill 2490 last year could help steer future generations away from prison. The bill concentrates the secure bed space for the serious juvenile offenders, and strengthens services available for other offenders to safely keep them in their community-based treatments and programs.

Intervention sooner should keep more young offenders out of a jail cell later.

Three years ago, lawmakers passed a package of bills as part of its Hawaii Justice Reinvestment Initiative. Among other actions, the initiative requires pretrial assessments that can reduce sentences for certain parole violations and drug offenses. It also expands the use of parole and enhances community-based treatment for the substance-abuse and other health problems that often drive people to criminal activity to begin with.

The state saved $2.5 million through corrections population reductions in fiscal year 2013. Hawaii is on the right track here and should keep going.

Creating a criminal justice and prison system that can handle public-safety needs efficiently requires that a difficult balance be struck. 

Hawaii leaders must pursue not only the physical improvements to facilities, but alternatives to incarceration. All of those components are needed to achieve the goal of a healthier society.