The state Department of Public Safety, which already has anything but a sterling reputation when it comes to proper management of Hawaii’s inmate population, has dug that hole deeper with the handling of a contract that, ironically, was intended to spark improvement.

DPS — meaning, the taxpayers — shelled out $1.37 million over four years to a contractor, called Pas de Chocolat, hired to evaluate the agency’s data needs and to find a replacement for its software system to track and manage information on inmates.

It was a contract that was revised nine times, and the two phases initially budgeted at just over $750,000 ended up costing nearly twice that much.

Even worse. it’s unclear what, if anything, the public got for that money — primarily, whether or not DPS has overcome past problems with tracking inmates and ensuring they are released at the appropriate time. That’s because the report’s recommendations and other information have been redacted by DPS.

There are myriad questions DPS must answer, about how the money was spent and what it’s doing to improve inmate tracking. DPS’s lagging performance on multiple fronts has been a driver behind the passage of House Bill 1552, which creates an independent commission to oversee the corrections system.

State Sen. Clarence Nishihara, public safety committee chairman, said he already considered an investigation into the inmate-tracking contract and may launch one next session. That is a commitment he should keep.

There have been inmates released too early, as well as too late. Tracking inmates’ release dates has been a problem plaguing DPS for years, according to attorneys representing inmates who have made legal claims against the state.

The decade-old case of Nolan Fraser, held at Maui Community Correctional Center 2-1/2 months beyond his release date, is an example, one that cost the state a $25,000 settlement. And that’s just a drop in the bucket. The state paid out $1.2 million in a class-action suit to settle hundreds of claims by inmates that they were over-detained.

The problem may lie in the tracking system itself — or in the execution of the program by people insufficiently trained. Until the unredacted report is released, there’s no way to know.

In 2010, the state auditor released a management audit of the department in its contracting for prison beds and services. In that report, the auditor concluded that DPS has “woefully underused Offendertrak, designed as a comprehensive inmate management tool.”

And yet, a major rationale for hiring Pas de Chocolat and for finding software to replace Offendertrak is because Offendertrak couldn’t serve DPS’s data needs. So, what was the actual assessment of the existing system, which has yet to be replaced?

It wasn’t replaced, according to the $1.37 million consultant’s report, because the department “has significant gaps to address” before a major software replacement is recommended.

What are the gaps? The recommendations were blacked out and the company wouldn’t elaborate.

The contract was issued through the Research Corp. of the University of Hawaii, which is not held to the state procurement code, and had oversight under a new program, Research and Evaluation in Public Safety. When that office raised red flags about the contract and its rising costs, there was a backlash, and the critique went nowhere.

Instead, the state is out nearly $1.4 million, with no idea whether management of inmates’ sentences — a public safety and civil rights concern — has been corrected. This mess leaves many questions to be answered. And it’s a prime example of why independent oversight of the state’s correctional system was proposed and, thankfully, is poised to become law.