Summary — HCR 154 (HD1)
Title: Requesting the Auditor to perform a comprehensive performance, management, and financial audit of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and Department of Accounting and General Services regarding spending related to the planning, design, financing, construction, and maintenance of a new jail to replace the Oahu Community Correctional Center
Status snapshot
- Classification: Concurrent resolution (requests action; does not itself appropriate funds or create law)
- Sponsor: Rep. Iwamoto (primary)
- Introduced: May 20, 2025
- Committee action: Reported from PBS as amended (HD1) recommending referral to FIN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1598)
- Floor action: Adopted by the House and transmitted to the Senate (actions dated June 1, 2025)
- Companion: HR 149
Purpose and intent
- To request that the State Auditor conduct a comprehensive audit (HD1: performance, management, and financial audit) of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DOCR) and Department of Accounting and General Services (DAGS) focused on expenditures and processes related to the proposed replacement of the Oahu Community Correctional Center (OCCC) with a new, 1,300‑bed jail proposed as a public‑private partnership.
Key findings cited in the resolution (background reasons for the audit)
- OCCC population: 947 incarcerated (Dec 2024); statewide facility staffing/overcrowding concerns.
- DOCR currently transfers and houses 938 male inmates at CoreCivic’s Saguaro facility in Arizona despite available beds in Hawai‘i facilities.
- High rates of homelessness prior to/after incarceration (30–40% 2021–2023) and substantial need for substance use (86% need) and mental health services; Native Hawaiians disproportionately impacted.
- Proposed replacement project estimated at $1,000,000,000 (capital cost) — the single largest public works project in state history — plus recurring operating costs not included.
- DOCR has spent approximately $25,000,000 to date on planning consultants (including PR) and is requesting an additional $30,000,000 to issue an RFP despite its last ten‑year master plan update being from 2003.
Audit scope and required elements (minimum)
1. Review of accountability measures within DOCR and DAGS related to planning the new jail.
2. Analysis of DOCR’s budget to determine whether expenditures for the project are consistent with original funding purposes.
3. Examination of DOCR’s and DAGS’s compliance with procurement laws for planning, design, financing, construction, and maintenance.
4. A detailed list of all contractors and subcontractors involved, dates and scope of duties, and completion status.
5. Any other matters the Auditor deems necessary.
Requirements and outcomes requested
- DOCR and DAGS are urged to fully cooperate and provide requested records and assistance to the Auditor.
- The Auditor is requested to report findings and recommendations — including any proposed legislation — to the Legislature no later than 20 days prior to the convening of the 2026 Regular Session.
- Certified copies to be sent to the Auditor, DOCR Director, and Comptroller.
Who would be affected
- DOCR and DAGS (subject agencies and their procurement/contracts).
- Contractors/subcontractors engaged on planning/design work.
- Taxpayers and state budget oversight bodies (may be affected by audit findings/recommendations).
- Indirectly, incarcerated individuals, corrections staff, and community stakeholders if the audit leads to changes in planning, procurement, budgeting, or greater diversion and pretrial policies.
Potential impact
- Increased transparency and accountability for prior and ongoing expenditures on the OCCC replacement project.
- Possible findings could prompt procurement reviews, budgetary adjustments, legislative oversight or new legislation, and changes to project pace or design.
- The resolution also frames alternatives (diversion, master planning, pretrial detention reduction) as policy considerations, though it does not mandate programmatic changes.
