HI HR8

Request Hawaii's congressional delegation to assist the state in negotiating with the federal government to acquire the Federal Detention Center, Honolulu, which opened in 2001 and is located on the west side of Honolulu International Airport.

The Federal Detention Center currently operates at well below its 1,200-bed capacity and houses male and female federal pre-trial detainees, sentenced felons nearing completion of sentences, and Hawaii state inmates awaiting trial.

State prisons and jails designed for 2,491 inmates are currently holding more than 4,100 inmates, and replacing or refurbishing facilities to meet demand would cost an estimated $1.5 billion to $2 billion.

The state has leased bed space at the Federal Detention Center since 2001 at a daily rate of $114 per inmate (up to 550 inmates allowed since August 2009) to relieve overcrowding.

State acquisition would relieve overcrowding, allow return of inmates currently held in Arizona private facilities, eliminate costs of building new facilities, and preserve existing federal staff through retention rather than new hiring and training.

Parties to negotiations should consider continued housing of federal pre-trial detainees and federal inmates serving brief sentences at favorable terms to the Federal Bureau of Prisons as a condition of state acquisition.