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State Reform Profile

Hawaii

Hawaii has among the lowest racial disparities in incarceration and has embraced treatment over incarceration for drug offenses.

ALTREFORM COMPOSITE87/100

Key Statistics

Incarceration Rate
252
per 100,000 residents
Annual Cost
$49K
per incarcerated person
3-Year Recidivism
53%
reincarcerated within 3 yrs
Racial Disparity
1.4×
Black vs. White incarceration
Alt. Programs
22
active diversion programs
Reform Initiatives
8
tracked by AltReform

Incarceration by Race

HI Overall252
National Avg568
Black (est.)212
White (est.)217

Incarceration rate per 100,000 residents. Racial estimates based on BJS/Sentencing Project methodology.

Recidivism Rate

53%3-year recidivism
This stateNational avg: 67%

Percent of people reincarcerated within 3 years of release. Source: BJS recidivism data series.

Cost vs. Alternatives

$49K
incarceration/yr
vs.
~$5K
diversion/yr

Active & Passed Reforms

3 initiatives

HOPE Probation ProgramView full details →

Swift and certain sanctions probation model, replicated nationally.

ActiveDiversion2004
AltReform Score92/100

Act 44 – Drug Felony ReductionView full details →

Reduced most drug possession felonies to misdemeanors.

PassedDrug Policy2016
AltReform Score85/100

SB 2919 – Prison to CommunityView full details →

Comprehensive reentry planning beginning 180 days before release.

ActiveReentry2021
AltReform Score83/100

Data Sources & Methodology

Reform data sourced from state legislative records, BJS Criminal Justice Statistics, the Vera Institute Incarceration Trends dataset, and The Sentencing Project. AltReform prediction scores (0,100) are generated by our ML model trained on 20+ years of state-level reform outcomes, weighting recidivism reduction, racial equity impact, cost-effectiveness, and political feasibility. Statistics are the most recent available (2021,2024).

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