2026 Primary: August 8 General: November 3 Official election information
VICTOR MUHSTATE HOUSE · DISTRICT 23

Cross-cutting policy proposal

Agricultural Reentry Campuses

Turn reentry into opportunity.

Hawaiʻi should explore voluntary agricultural reentry campuses where eligible people transitioning out of incarceration can temporarily live, earn a real wage, learn marketable skills, save for permanent housing, and rebuild their lives while helping Hawaiʻi rebuild its food-producing economy.

Public SafetyWorkforceAgricultureHousing & ReentrySelf-SufficiencyEconomyCost of Living
PurposeHow it worksSkillsSafeguardsLand useResearchOutcomes

The purpose

A pathway from incarceration to employment, independence, housing, and successful reintegration.

This proposal is not about placing formerly incarcerated people on farms because agriculture needs inexpensive workers. It is about creating a structured, temporary bridge back into normal community life while strengthening a productive part of Hawaiʻi’s economy.

“The goal is not cheap labor. It is a pathway from incarceration to employment, independence, permanent housing, and successful reintegration into society while helping Hawaiʻi become more self-sufficient.”

Public safety

Successful reentry requires more than release from custody. Employment, stable housing, treatment when needed, transportation, identification, and a realistic path to independence can all be part of reducing the conditions that make reentry fail.

Productive work

Participants would work in legitimate agricultural, ranching, processing, maintenance, logistics, or related operations and earn real wages rather than providing unpaid or artificially cheap labor.

Transitional housing

A temporary residential setting could give participants time to establish employment history, save money, obtain documents, complete training, and secure permanent housing before independent living.

Workforce development

Training should lead to recognized, transferable skills that remain valuable whether the participant stays in agriculture or enters construction, logistics, mechanics, refrigeration, transportation, or another skilled field.

Self-sufficiency

Participants could help expand real local production, processing, storage, and distribution capacity, contributing to a broader strategy of producing more of what Hawaiʻi currently imports.

Cost of living

Reentry itself will not solve food prices, but expanding competitive local productive capacity and creating more living-wage work can contribute to the larger goal of keeping more income and economic activity circulating within Hawaiʻi.

How it could work

Temporary structure, real work, measurable progress.

1. Voluntary participation by people approved for community-based placement
2. Temporary campus housing with appropriate supervision and services
3. Paid employment plus credentialed vocational training
4. Savings, financial education, documentation, and housing search
5. Transition to permanent housing and independent employment

Transferable skills

The training should lead somewhere after the program ends.

Heavy equipment operation
Irrigation systems
Agricultural mechanics
Welding
Construction & maintenance
Refrigeration
Food safety
Meat processing
Commercial driving & logistics
Animal husbandry
Farm management
Business & entrepreneurship

Program safeguards

Participant benefit and public safety have to be built into the design.

Voluntary participationNo one should be assigned to agricultural work simply because of incarceration history.
Eligibility screeningCorrections, parole, or other responsible authorities should determine who is appropriate for community-based placement.
Real wagesThe program should not undercut workers or become a source of subsidized cheap labor.
Recognized credentialsTraining should produce skills and certifications that are useful outside the program.
Wraparound servicesCase management should connect participants to treatment, transportation, financial education, identification, health services, and permanent housing when appropriate.
Legitimate agricultureFarms or ranches must be bona fide productive operations, not nominal agricultural activity used to justify residential development.
Community and infrastructureSite selection should address neighboring properties, sanitation, emergency access, transportation, water, utilities, and public-safety concerns.
Freedom after completionParticipants should be able to pursue work inside or outside agriculture rather than being tied to the program or employer.

Land-use question

Agricultural land does not automatically make a reentry campus permissible.

Current-law starting point: Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes §205-4.5 recognizes farm dwellings and employee housing among permissible agricultural-district uses. Separate rules for Important Agricultural Lands under §205-45.5 require employee housing there to be used by employees who actively and currently work on the agricultural land and impose additional conditions. Those provisions do not by themselves establish that a larger residential reentry campus, with supervision and wraparound services, qualifies as ordinary farm-employee housing. A real proposal would need site-specific review of state land-use classification, county zoning, building and sanitation requirements, corrections or residential-use rules, and any special-use approvals. If the current framework does not fit, the State and counties should consider a specific agricultural-reentry authorization with safeguards against abuse.

Research context

The concept builds on needs Hawaiʻi’s reentry system already recognizes.

Hawaiʻi already links reentry to employment and housing

The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation describes reentry as a rehabilitative and public-safety mission. Existing Oʻahu furlough programs give eligible participants opportunities to seek employment, establish financial stability, and find housing before release. Career-technical programs also emphasize transferable skills and job readiness.

Evidence supports addressing multiple needs together

The U.S. Office of Justice Programs identifies housing, employment, family reunification, and treatment as critical reentry needs. The research base does not justify claiming that a job alone prevents recidivism, so this proposal is intentionally broader: paid work, housing stability, skills, supervision, services, and transition planning should operate together.

Sources

VOTE VICTOR MUH

State House · District 23

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