Gov. David Ige says the state is serious about buying the Federal Detention Center near the Honolulu airport to house inmates from the Hawaii’s overcrowded correctional system, but acknowledges it would literally require an act of Congress to make the deal happen.

At a briefing for reporters today, Ige said state officials have approached the White House and the federal government about buying the detention center next to the Daniel K. Inouye Airport. He said said the response from the Federal Bureau of Prisons was the agency has authority to build and operate prisons and jails, but not the authority to sell them.

With that in mind, Ige said he has been working with Hawaii’s federal delegation to see if it would be possible to get U.S. Congress to authorize the sale of the federal jail to the state. At the same time, Ige said the state is pressing ahead with a plan to develop a new jail on land near the Halawa Correctional Facility.

The federal detention center at 353 Elliott St. opened in 2001, and can house about 1,200 prisoners if the inmates are double-celled. Ige said it is large enough to replace the aging and severely overcrowded Oahu Community Correctional Center in Kalihi.

Much of the FDC is vacant, and the state has been renting space in the federal lockup to help relieve overcrowding in state jails.

“We are pursuing both projects in parallel. We are moving along in the hopes that we can relocate OCCC if that works out, but we are making a full court press to acquire the Federal Detention Center,” he said. “That would save us time and save us money if we are able to acquire the federal detention center. That would allow us to accelerate our programs to really make the OCCC site available for other activities or other uses.”

Ige made those comments at a briefing for the media on the administration’s proposed supplemental budget for fiscal years 2020 and 2021. That budget includes $20 million in consulting fees to “acquire or to construct” a replacement jail.