On May 11, the Star-Advertiser’s editorial stated, “The (Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission) backs House Bill 1567, which expressly states an intent to reduce jail population. And the Legislature explicitly put a new jail on hold to pressure the state into implementing bail reform, so that a smaller jail can be built. But that linkage is misguided.” Actually, it is your conclusion that is misguided.

The issues surrounding the development of a new Oahu Community Correctional Center (OCCC) are much more complex. As members of the commission, our position on a new OCCC does not hinge solely on bail reform. We know that OCCC must be replaced. Our concern is with the size and projected cost of the new facility, and the state’s inadequate consideration of the reforms proposed by the HCR 85 Task Force, which was charged to assess Hawaii’s criminal justice system and suggest reforms with a refocus on rehabilitation instead of punishment. Bail reform is only one of these reforms.

In fact, just two days later, an editorial praised some of the HCR 85 reforms that did just pass the Legislature (“Break cycle of prison for women,” Our View, May 13). “If the Women’s Court and this range of bills result in effective diversion from the incarceration cycle,” the editorial stated, “communities will be safer — and the measures can help provide a blueprint for expansive justice system reform in Hawaii.” We fully agree with this conclusion. Expansive justice reform is needed before we continue with the redevelopment of OCCC, which was estimated to cost over $500 million, pre-pandemic, to house a population that does not consider reforms we must address.

Planning of the new OCCC needs to be paused until we fully discuss such reforms. During the summer of 2021, the state’s own consultant concluded that a bail reform bill then pending at the Legislature could reduce the OCCC population by 235 (“Oahu Community Correctional Center Population Final Forecast,” August 2, 2021). The consultant concluded, “Unless population reduction (such as the diversion estimates that we have detailed) can be implemented through policy and legal reforms, the new OCCC will still be a large facility with a large detention and pre-release population.”

The women’s prison in Kailua provides an example of the pitfalls of inadequate planning. The state is now building a new 176-bed dormitory at this prison, to house its current population plus women detainees currently held at OCCC. When completed, the women’s prison will have a total capacity of 436. The combined population of women at these two facilities was 301 on May 9.

With the aforementioned reforms, it is likely that the population will decline, rather than grow to meet the new capacity. However, to operate this additional capacity, the prison’s permanent position count will increase by 73%, from 159 to 276; and its operating budget will expand by 54%, from $10.5 million per year to $16.3 million, even though the new positions will be funded for only part of the new fiscal year.

Although we agree that OCCC needs to be replaced, we also believe the Legislature was wise not to appropriate an additional $15 million to plan a new facility that will cost way more than $500 million. Let’s hope that this stirs the state to get serious about systemwide reforms for men and women.

We renew our December 2021 recommendation that the Department of Public Safety form a community advisory committee to explore the policies and programs needed to right-size OCCC.

Mark Patterson chairs the Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission, of which (ret.) Judge Ronald Ibarra and Ted Sakai are members; this was co-signed by fellow commissioners Martha Torney and (ret.) Judge Michael Town.