STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2174-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: S.C.R. No. 89

S.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Public Safety, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 89, S.D. 1, entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE HAWAII CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM OVERSIGHT COMMISSION TO ESTABLISH AN ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO DEVELOP RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ALTERNATIVE MODELS FOR REHABILITATION AND RESTORATIVE JUSTICE ON OʻAHU,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to request the Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission to establish an advisory committee to develop recommendations on the implementation of alternative models for rehabilitation and restorative justice on Oahu.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Hawaiʻi Correctional System Oversight Commission; American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaiʻi; Correctional Reform Working Group; Imua Alliance; and Community Alliance on Prisons. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Your Committee finds that the Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission has consistently advocated for implementing a rehabilitative model in a new jail to replace the Oahu Community Correctional Center. Your Committee further finds that in 2022, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation contracted with the University of Hawaii Community Design Center to develop a proof-of-concept study titled "Breaking Cycles: Alternative Models for Rehabilitative and Restorative Justice on Oʻahu", which proposed a design framework and accompanying principles and included recommendations to improve the State's correctional system. However, the Hawaii Correctional Oversight Commission's March 2025 report titled "Hoe Amau: The Current State of Reentry in Hawaii" identified a variety of areas in which the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has not complied with rehabilitation and reentry requirements. This measure seeks to address some of these issues.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 89, S.D. 1, and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety,

____________________________

DELLA AU BELATTI, Chair