HB2382 HD1 HSCR411-02

 

STAND. COM. REP. NO.411-02

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2002

RE: H.B. No. 2382

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 2382 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to require notification and 90 days for public comment as part of the site selection process for any new correctional facility within the state.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Keaukaha Community Association, the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii, the Community Alliance on Prisons, and the First Christian Church. The Department of Public Safety (PSD) supported this bill, but recommended reducing the period during which the Governor would accept public comments from 90 to 60 days.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from a concerned individual.

Your Committee finds that the selection of sites for correctional facilities often becomes a surprise to the community. Requiring a notice and comment period would ease some of the difficulties usually encountered and facilitate a better dialogue between PSD and the community.

Upon further review, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Requiring notification and a 90-day public comment period for proposed expansions of existing correctional facilities costing in excess of $500,000; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2382, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2382, H.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs,

 

____________________________ NESTOR GARCIA, Chair