HI HCR125

Requests the Department of Public Safety to return Hawaii prisoners currently held in mainland correctional facilities back to Hawaii.

Requests the Department of Public Safety to construct a new correctional facility at Panaewa near Hilo on the Big Island to house returning inmates.

Requires the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, and University of Hawaii Center on the Family to collaborate with and assist the Department of Public Safety in planning the prisoner return and new facility construction.

Requires the Department of Public Safety to report to the Legislature no later than twenty days before the 2012 Regular Session convenes on progress toward bringing home Hawaii inmates and constructing the Panaewa facility.

Addresses disparate treatment of Native Hawaiians in the criminal justice system, noting they comprise 39 percent of the incarcerated population while making up only 24 percent of Hawaii's general population.