Kulani Correctional Facility is set to reopen.
More than 90 jobs are set to return to Hawaii island.
The population of Hawaii inmates housed in private mainland prisons is set to decrease by at least 200 people.
And it’s slated to start happening next year.
"We will reopen the Kulani Correctional Facility by July 1, 2014," Gov. Neil Abercrombie announced Tuesday during his State of the State address. "We will restore needed jobs on the Big Island and return more than $5 million a year to Hawaii currently spent on Arizona correctional facilities."
The Lingle administration closed the minimum-security facility on the slopes of Mauna Loa, 20 miles south of Hilo, in 2009 as a purported way to save $2.8 million a year amid the state’s burgeoning budget crisis.
Abercrombie promised during his campaign for governor in 2010 to return all Hawaii offenders currently being housed in Arizona prisons, and he has been working since last year to reopen Kulani.
State public safety officials manage roughly 6,000 inmates, with nearly one-third of them at Saguaro and Red Rock correctional centers in Arizona, and the state is working to implement its Justice Reinvestment initiative that aims to end overseas imprisonment and establish a more efficient, cost-effective system in Hawaii.
Many lawmakers last week voiced support for the reopening of Kulani and were not hesitant to call the closure of the prison — which was known for being a program-intensive prison run more like a work camp that focused on community service and preparing inmates for re-entering society — a misstep.
"Many legislators felt that the closing of Kulani during the Lingle administration was a big mistake, and now with Gov. Abercrombie in office, we are correcting that error," said Sen. Will Espero (D, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point), chairman of the Senate public safety committee. "We want inmates in Hawaii so that they are close to their family and support groups, as well as having the funding that’s being spent on the mainland being spent in our local economy."
Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi said he opposed the closing in 2009 because of how it would affect prison employees, vendors that provided food and other services to the prison, and the inmates receiving treatment there. When Kulani closed, more than 90 employees were let go, and about 160 inmates were relocated.
"I certainly believe that it was a facility that should not have closed, and I’m hoping that we can reopen it as soon as is practical," Kenoi said.
Lawmakers also questioned whether the state ever saved the money it was supposed to save from closing Kulani.
"We’re still paying for those prisoners that we shipped out of state, and I don’t believe the savings were realized," said Sen. Gil Kahele (D, Hilo-Naalehu). "I think that the governor’s direction to reopen Kulani is a good one. I’m in total support of it."
Kahele said he thinks closing the prison created havoc among his constituents and called the shipment of more prisoners to the mainland detrimental.
For the state to prepare Kulani for reopening, the facility’s current tenant, the National Guard’s Youth ChalleNGe Academy, needs to move. Lawmakers said the academy is looking at locations, and the move is expected to happen in the spring of 2014.
The Department of Defense program began leasing space at Kulani to run the program for at-risk youth shortly after the prison closed. Hawaii National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Chuck Anthony said the academy has requested $5.9 million in state funds to move the program to another location.
"The most important thing, I think, is our ability to support the transition of the National Guard’s youth challenge program and making sure that we provide the funding and the support necessary for them to transition to their Hilo facility," said Rep. Richard Onishi (D-South Hilo, Keaau, Honuapo).
Abercrombie in August released $248,177 to conduct environmental impact studies on the area and assess the prison’s existing infrastructure.
State public safety officials presented the findings of those studies, released in November, at a public meeting held Tuesday in Hilo. A similar meeting is scheduled for Thursday at the Keaau Community Center.
"I think in general people are supportive, (but) there are some concerns that were expressed at the recent hearing," said Onishi, who attended. "Obviously the Hawaiian community understands that there’s a significant amount of Hawaiians that are incarcerated, and they really want to make sure that the programs are in line with the Hawaiian culture and learning about their roots."
The hearing drew almost 100 residents, many of whom called for Kulani to be turned into a puuhonua, or a sanctuary for Native Hawaiian offenders in need of cultural healing and transformation.
Department of Public Safety Director Ted Sakai said he has met with Ohana Ho‘opakele, a nonprofit group in support of building a puuhonua. Sakai said he is open to incorporating puuhonua-type programs at Kulani, but the department will not be able to turn the whole facility into a puuhonua.
"I think there’s a lot of room for us to work together," Sakai said.
Onishi said he, too, would support offering puuhonua treatment programs at Kulani, and he trusts the state’s corrections officials to strike an appropriate balance.
"By eliminating Kulani, we took away a whole program and in a setting that really made sense," Onishi said. "They may have had programs in other facilities in Hawaii, (but) it’s not the same as being up in Kulani. That low-risk, low-security (setting) … is a big factor to show them that we trust them and their want to become productive citizens."
According to the environmental assessment, the prison is in good condition and will require $600,000 in repairs and updates to its roof, interior and exterior, electrical system, kitchen equipment and security equipment.
The assessment states that the annual operating cost of the prison when it closed was $5.1 million.
Sakai said the reopened prison is expected to cost $5.9 million a year to run.
He said housing a prisoner at Kulani will cost about $82 a day compared with the $65 per-day cost of using Arizona facilities, but cited local economic impact and better programming as reasons why Kulani should reopen.
Onishi said he thinks the extra cost is "a small price to pay to be able to bring our inmates back and put them in a program that really gives them the best chance to get back into the community."
"I think for me that’s well worth the price," he added.
Sakai said that because of its limited security, Kulani would not house all inmates returning from the mainland. Instead, its opening will free space in other state facilities for higher-custody-level inmates to return from mainland prisons.
A 10-year corrections master plan update published for the state Accounting and General Services and Public Safety departments in 2003 questioned whether the facility was economic to maintain, given its rural location.
"At issue … is the continuing extraordinary cost of water supply due to the facility’s high elevation on the island requiring the use of a combination of catchment reservoirs and tank trucks for hauling water during the season," says the report by Carter Global Associates Inc.
The 2012 environmental assessment addresses the water supply concerns, saying that the facility’s existing waste water system is expected to be adequate because the inmate population will be comparable to what it was before closing.
Public Safety Department spokeswoman Toni Schwartz said leaky pipes and other inefficiencies were fixed before the DOD took over the site, greatly reducing water costs. She also said laundry will be done off campus as a way to save water.
"According to the engineers and their assessment, everything is good," Schwartz said.
Kat Brady, spokeswoman for the Community Alliance on Prisons, said she is pleased to see the governor progress with reopening Kulani.
"I think it’s a good thing because Kulani actually had some of the best programs of any prison, where people actually left the facility with job skills that helped them earn a real living," Brady said. "If we want to reduce crime, let’s skill folks up and help them be contributing members to the community."
Mike Hodson, a farmer and president of the Waimea Hawaiian Homesteaders’ Association, attended the governor’s State of the State Address and said afterward that the reopening of Kulani Correctional Facility really stood out to him.
"Hawaiian people don’t do good on the mainland," said Hodson, who worked for 27 years as a narcotics detective with the Hawaii Police Department. "And they did wrong, yeah, they get locked up, but they don’t do good outside of their (home) — it’s like a fish out of water.
"Bringing our Hawaiians back home in an environment, in a culture that they know of — that’s the only way you can help rehabilitate them and get them back on track."
