The long-awaited expansion of Hawaii Community Correctional Center in Hilo is expected to be finished in December, according to the state Department of Public Safety.
The $20.7 million project will add 48 new beds to the jail and will increase its total operational capacity from 226 inmates to 274.
But even with the additional space, it still won’t be enough to house the current number of inmates.
The latest population report released Aug. 14 confirmed that HCC has a total of 298 inmates, with a design capacity of 206 and an operational capacity of 226.
That gives HCCC an occupancy rate of 131.9%, making it the most overcrowded correctional facility in the state.
“The expansion will add extra beds to help alleviate some of the overcrowding, but the overall overcrowding situation at HCCC has been a long-standing issue that will require a lot more housing to remedy,” said Department of Public Safety spokesperson Toni Schwartz. “The department will continue to ask the Legislature for assistance with solutions to the problem.”
Schwartz confirmed there are no additional expansion plans underway at this time.
The current expansion — which began in February 2022 and initially was expected to take 15 months — will add 1,920-square-feet of housing space for 24 cells, with two beds per cell.
The plans also include a 1,680-square-foot day-room, a 1,200-square foot recreation yard, a 400-square-foot viewing garden, and smaller spaces for showers, a staff station, office space, a medical/interview room, a staff toilet and storage.
Roughly $15 million for the project was approved by the Legislature in 2016 for design and initial construction, and another $5.7 million was provided in 2021.
“The process is going well,” said HCCC Warden Cramer Mahoe, who noted the main goal of the expansion was “to get the guys off of the floor.”
“Right now, the whole goal is to help with the crowding,” he said. “That’s our goal, and we’re planning to stick to it.”
But concerns from community members regarding the extension continue amid construction.
“Once that new wing is completed, I have to believe they’re going to be over capacity again,” said former County Council member and nearby resident Aaron Chung. “To me, it’s unfortunate that the state couldn’t find a way of starting the process of relocating that jail.”
Chung noted there are lingering concerns not just about nearby residents, but also for inmates and staff safety.
“It’s not just about the neighborhood and neighboring facilities like the schools, but it’s also about the inmate safety and safe working conditions,” Chung said. “When you get all compacted like that, it just doesn’t make for a good situation for anyone.”
Email Grant Phillips at gphillips@hawaiitribune-herald.com.