HB1628

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that correctional facilities in Hawaii and across the United States are housing a growing number of incarcerated persons who require a high level of complex and costly medical care. This is due in part to an aging prison population, and in part to the generally poor health of incarcerated persons.

The National Institute of Corrections defines older incarcerated persons as being aged fifty years or older, and many correctional institutions estimate that an incarcerated person's physiological age is ten to fifteen years older than their chronological age due to prior lack of medical care, drug use, and the stress of incarceration. As of mid-September 2025, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation housed nine hundred ninety-six incarcerated persons fifty years of age or older, including over eighty incarcerated persons who were seventy or more years old. Concern over how society should deal with the aging and seriously ill prison population has led policymakers in all states and the federal government to provide for the early release of certain older and seriously ill individuals.

The legislature further finds that the early release of elderly and seriously ill incarcerated persons will reduce State spending on corrections. The average cost of housing an incarcerated person in Hawaii is $307 per day or $112,055 per year. Therefore the average cost to house Hawaii's nine hundred ninety-six older incarcerated persons is $305,000 per day, or $111,000,000 per year, not including the cost of higher staffing needs, medications, and hospitalizations that are associated with caring for older incarcerated persons.

The legislature additionally finds that parole board members, with the aid of medical and correctional professionals, are able to make informed decisions about granting compassionate release. Release policies are also supported by recidivism research which shows that arrest rates drop to slightly more than two per cent for persons ages fifty to sixty-five years old, and to almost zero percent for those older than sixty-five.

The legislature further finds that compassion is an expression of the aloha spirit and that compassionate release of seriously ill and debilitated incarcerated persons reflects the State's commitment to dignity, humanity, and justice.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to create a compassionate release protocol for certain ill or seriously debilitated incarcerated persons with the express intent that all incarcerated persons who qualify for release are considered for release to the community in a fair, just, and expeditious manner.

SECTION 2. Chapter 353, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new subpart to part II to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

" . Compassionate Release

§353- Definitions. As used in this subpart:

"Authority" means the Hawaii paroling authority.

"Compassionate release" means the release of an incarcerated person before the expiration of the incarcerated person's sentence due to the incarcerated person's terminal illness or debilitating, chronic, or irreversible condition.

"Debilitating, chronic, or irreversible condition" means a persistent or progressive medical, cognitive, or mental health condition that compromises an incarcerated person's ability to perform one or more activities of daily living or significantly compromises an incarcerated person's quality of life.

"Director" means the director of corrections and rehabilitation.

"Incarcerated person" means a person committed to the custody of the director who has been convicted of one or more felony offenses.

"Incarcerated person's representative" means an attorney, family member, or other person, including another incarcerated person, who is assisting the incarcerated person in initiating an application for compassionate release or navigating the compassionate release process.

"Terminal illness" means a progressive medical condition with a predictably poor prognosis that is expected to result in death.

§353- Referral. The director shall have an affirmative and ongoing duty to identify incarcerated persons who may meet the criteria for compassionate release pursuant to this subpart and shall refer such incarcerated persons to the authority for possible compassionate release as provided by this subpart.

§353- Compassionate release; authority to release; process. (a) An incarcerated person may be considered for compassionate release if the incarcerated person:

(1) Has a terminal illness;

(2) Has a debilitating, chronic, or irreversible condition;

(3) Is too ill or cognitively impaired to participate in rehabilitation or to be aware of punishment; or

(4) Has a condition or combination of conditions that requires a complexity of treatment or level of care that the department is unable to provide on a long-term basis or the incarcerated person would otherwise be more appropriately managed in a community setting.

(b) The department shall promptly identify incarcerated persons who meet the criteria for compassionate release under subsection (a) and assist the incarcerated person in applying for compassionate release, including developing a plan that meets the medical and physical needs of the incarcerated person.

(c) An application for compassionate release may be initiated by the department's medical staff, an incarcerated person, or an incarcerated person's representative.

(d) The director shall submit all applications for compassionate release to the authority within fifteen business days from the date of the original request, along with the director's recommendation for or against compassionate release, the reasons for the director's recommendation, and any other documents the director deems appropriate to assist the authority in making a decision for or against release; provided that if it appears that an application for compassionate release clearly does not meet the criteria for compassionate release or is clearly frivolous, the director may hold the request and not submit it to the authority until it is supported by a report from a licensed physician stating that, to a reasonable degree of medical probability, the incarcerated person meets the criteria for release. The incarcerated person or the incarcerated person's representative shall be responsible for obtaining the physician's report; provided that if the incarcerated person or the incarcerated person's representative is unable to obtain the physician's report due to medical, cognitive, or financial limitations, the department shall provide the incarcerated person or the incarcerated person's representative with reasonable assistance in obtaining the physician's report.

(e) The authority shall hold an administrative hearing to consider an application for compassionate release no later than ten business days after receiving an application for compassionate release from the director and shall grant release in accordance with subsection (f).

(f) The authority shall grant compassionate release and release the incarcerated person to an appropriate community setting unless the authority finds that the incarcerated person does not meet the medical criteria under subsection (a) for compassionate release or that the incarcerated person presently poses an unreasonable risk to public safety. If the authority denies an application for compassionate release, the authority shall state the reasons for the denial and shall notify the incarcerated person or the incarcerated person's representative of its decision. A denial of compassionate release may not be appealed and shall not create a private right of action.

(g) Denial of compassionate release by the authority shall not affect an incarcerated person's eligibility for any other form of parole or release under any applicable federal or state law; provided that the incarcerated person or the incarcerated person's representative shall not reapply or be reconsidered for compassionate release unless there is a significant change in the incarcerated person's medical condition or any other material factor.

(h) A grant of compassionate release shall not be subject to the sixty day notice requirement of section 706-669(5).

(i) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, all persons incarcerated by the State, including but not limited to persons serving a mandatory minimum sentence or persons sentenced to life without parole, shall be eligible for compassionate release pursuant to this subpart. A mandatory minimum sentence or sentence of life without parole shall not preclude eligibility for compassionate release pursuant to this subpart.

§353- Conditions of release. (a) The authority shall set reasonable conditions for an incarcerated person's compassionate release which shall take into consideration the incarcerated person's medical conditions and abilities.

(b) The incarcerated person shall comply with all conditions for compassionate release set by the authority.

§353- Revocation of compassionate release. (a) The authority may order an individual granted compassionate release pursuant to this subpart to be returned to the custody of the director to await a revocation hearing if the authority receives credible information that the individual has failed in a significant way to comply with the conditions established by the authority for the individual's compassionate release.

(b) When determining whether an individual's compassionate release should be revoked, the authority shall consider the individual's medical health, mental health, or cognitive condition as it relates to the alleged violation.

(c) Revocation of compassionate release shall not affect an individual's eligibility for any other form of parole or release, including any subsequent application for compassionate release.

(d) Absent a material change or change in circumstance of the individual's medical condition, an individual whose compassionate release has been revoked shall not be eligible to apply for compassionate release for at least six months after the revocation of their compassionate release.

§353- Reporting. (a) The department shall collect and maintain the following data on compassionate release of incarcerated persons pursuant to this subpart, which shall be complied into an annual report that shall be made publicly available no later than of each year:

(1) The number of applications for compassionate release received by the department;

(2) The number of applications for compassionate release forwarded to the authority; and

(3) For each applicant who has applied for compassionate release:

(A) Where the applicant was housed at the time the application was submitted;

(B) If the application was initiated by the department's medical staff, the incarcerated person, or the incarcerated person's representative;

(D) How long the applicant had been incarcerated at the time of application; and

(E) If the applicant died prior to a decision or after being granted compassionate release but prior to release from custody.

(b) The authority shall collect and maintain the following data on compassionate release of incarcerated persons pursuant to this subpart, which shall be complied into an annual report that shall be made publicly available no later than of each year:

(1) The number of incarcerated persons granted compassionate release by the authority pursuant to this subpart, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, age, and gender identity;

(2) The number of incarcerated persons whose application for compassionate release was denied by the authority, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, age, and gender identity;

(3) The length of time between submission of the application, the release decision, and the release date;

(4) The number of incarcerated persons approved for compassionate release but whose release was delayed by more than fifteen days from the date of the hearing and the reason for the delay; and

(5) The number of incarcerated persons returned to the custody of the department after being granted compassionate release.

§353- Administrative rules; working group. (a) The department, authority, and Hawaii correctional system oversight commission shall convene a working group to develop administrative rules to implement the purposes of this subpart.

(b) The working group shall consist of the following members or their designees:

(1) The director of corrections and rehabilitation;

(2) The medical director for the department of corrections and rehabilitation;

(3) The chair of the Hawaii paroling authority;

(4) The chair of the Hawaii correctional system oversight commission;

(5) A formerly incarcerated individual, to be jointly appointed by the director of corrections and rehabilitation, chair of the Hawaii paroling authority, and chair of the Hawaii correctional system oversight commission, who:

(A) Worked as a medical aide while in the custody of the department;

(B) Has direct knowledge or experience of complex medical issues while in the custody of the department; or

(6) An attorney with experience in applying for or representing an incarcerated person seeking compassionate release, to be jointly appointed by the director of corrections and rehabilitation, chair of the Hawaii paroling authority, and chair of the Hawaii correctional system oversight commission; and

(7) A subject matter expert in compassionate release research, policy, and practice, to be jointly appointed by the director of corrections and rehabilitation, chair of the Hawaii paroling authority, and chair of the Hawaii correctional system oversight commission.

(c) The administrative rules developed by the working group shall be adopted pursuant to chapter 91 by the department and authority no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2028."

SECTION 3. Chapter 353, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by designating sections 353-61 to 353-72 as subpart A and inserting a title before section 353-61 to read as follows:

"A. Hawaii Paroling Authority – General Provisions."

SECTION 4. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	1628
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
STATE OF HAWAII