2023 Hawaii Revised Statutes
Title 37. Hawaii Penal Code
706. Disposition of Convicted Defendants
706-672 Place of imprisonment. §706-672 Commentary:

§706-672 Place of imprisonment. When a person is sentenced to imprisonment, the court shall commit the person to the custody of the department of corrections and rehabilitation for the term of the person's sentence and until released in accordance with law. The director of corrections and rehabilitation shall determine the proper program of redirection and any place of confinement of the committed person. [L 1972, c 9, pt of §1; am L 1983, c 182, §1; am L 1987, c 338, §10; am L 1989, c 211, §8; gen ch 1993; am L 2022, c 278, §29]

COMMENTARY ON §706-672

This section is substantially in accord with prior law. H.R.S. §711-83 (as codified prior to this Code) provided that felons be committed to the custody of the director of the department of social services and housing for placement within the correctional facilities of the department. Although there was no specific statutory direction that persons imprisoned for misdemeanors shall be incarcerated in county jails,1 this was the usual practice.

SUPPLEMENTAL COMMENTARY ON §706-672

In enacting the Code, the legislature added to §672(1) of the Proposed Draft the last sentence which allows the court to determine the initial place of confinement. The Conference Committee Report states that "the Director of the Department of Social Services and Housing shall determine the proper program of redirection and any subsequent place of confinement best suited to meet the individual needs of the committed person." Conference Committee Report No. 2 (1972) (emphasis added). The committee also put its gloss on the word "institution," appearing in subsection (2), by stating its "intent that 'institution' refers to any detention or correctional facility other than Oahu prison." Id.

Act 182, Session Laws 1983, amended this section to authorize the director of social services to determine a convicted person's place of confinement. Under prior law, courts determined the initial place of confinement for convicted persons with indeterminate prison terms and also determined the permanent place of confinement for convicted persons with definite prison terms. Because of that law, convicted persons were sometimes inappropriately housed due to the court's commitment or the prisoner's subsequent behavior. By amending this section, the director is able to place convicted persons in the most appropriate program and is better able to use the department's resources to provide for the safety of other prisoners and the department's staff. Senate Standing Committee Report No. 722, House Standing Committee Report No. 419.

Act 278, Session Laws 2022, amended this section to replace references to "department of public safety" or "director of public safety" with "department of corrections and rehabilitation" or "director of corrections and rehabilitation", as applicable, to reflect the provisions in Act 278 that: (1) reestablished the department of public safety as an independent department of corrections and rehabilitation to administer the corrections, rehabilitation, and reentry of the inmate population; and (2) established a department of law enforcement to consolidate and administer certain criminal law enforcement and investigative functions of the department of public safety, department of transportation, department of the attorney general, and office of homeland security. The legislature found that the goals and functions of corrections and law enforcement are distinct, and separating the functions of the department of public safety into two departments would advance these distinct goals and objectives while allowing the corrections arm to more fully integrate strategies for rehabilitation. The legislature further found that reorganizing certain state law enforcement functions into a single entity with consistent training opportunities would allow for the efficient use of resources in administering correctional programs and improve decision making, promote accountability, streamline communication, decrease costs, reduce duplication of efforts, provide uniform training and standards, and promote uniform standards of law enforcement services. House Standing Committee Report No. 200-22, Senate Standing Committee Report No. 3292.

Case Notes

Nothing in the federal or the state constitution or the state statutory law entitles prisoner to a hearing in connection with the prisoner's transfer to a mainland prison. 63 H. 138, 621 P.2d 976 (1981).

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§706-672 Commentary:

1. But cf. H.R.S. §710-12, which reads in part: "The magistrate may direct, as one of the terms and conditions of such suspension of sentence, periodical or intermittent confinement of such person in jail or his attendance at a traffic course or school prescribed by the magistrate."