A group of 21 inmates was transported to Kulani Correctional Facility yesterday, the first inmates to move into the renovated prison.

Most of the inmates were transferred from Waiawa Correctional Facility and Halawa Correctional Facility on Oahu, says Toni Schwartz, public information officer for the state Department of Public Safety.

None of the inmates came directly from Arizona, which houses hundreds of Hawaii inmates because of crowded conditions locally.  

But by freeing up the bed space within the state, it will allow Public Safety to decrease the numbers of people we send to the mainland and gradually lower the population there.

Kulani Prison near Hilo, July 1, 2014.

Department of Public Safety

The Kulani facility in Hilo closed in 2009 but was re-opened earlier this month with new funding from the state.

Kulani’s 200 low-risk inmates will return in phases, with the rest returning in increments over the next five months.

The inmates will be offered vocational training and substance abuse treatment programs.

The department is also working with kupuna from East Hawaii to develop programs based on traditional Hawaiian values.

Kulani’s reactivation stems from the Abercrombie administration’s participation in the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, a data-driven plan to reduce spending on corrections and eventually bring inmates housed in Arizona back to the islands.

Read Cvil Beat’s related coverage on JRI: ‘First Step’ Taken to Transform Criminal Justice System