‘Transfer of Guam inmates won’t happen unless NMI is OK with it’

Guam Department of Corrections officials who visited the CNMI yesterday to discuss future plans to house Guam inmates on Saipan to combat its overcrowding problem assures that the CNMI community has the final say in the matter.

At the same time, the Guam DOC officials—Guam State Clearinghouse administrator Stephanie Flores, Guam DOC director Fred Bordallo, and Department of Youth Affairs director Melanie Brennan—described their talks on the matter as “very preliminary” and that no agreement has been reached yet.

The three met yesterday with DOC Commissioner Anthony Torres, Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, and members of the Legislature. The purpose of the group’s visit is to talk about the possibility of transferring Guam detainees to Saipan to combat overcrowding in Guam’s prison.

“Today’s discussions were very preliminary. We want to make clear that there have been no agreements made just yet. We are at the very early stages of exploring what options are out there to help the CNMI and to also help Guam. That’s really where we are. We are in the early stages of discussion of how we can help each other. There are a lot of logistics that have to be discussed. There’s a lot of questions that need to be answered. There’s a lot of things that both communities have to consider on their own about what we’re going to do and how we’re going to move forward if we were to move forward,” said Flores.

Flores assures that any talks between the leadership of Guam DOC and Saipan DOC on an agreement between the two institutions that would be beneficial to both parties will ultimately come down what the CNMI community wills.

“One of the things we really want to say is there will be no movement of inmates right away, and that will not happen unless the community of the CNMI is on board 100%. We want to make that very clear. We want to make sure this process is as transparent as possible, and we want everybody to ask the questions that they want. We want to make sure that everybody is going into this with their eyes wide open, everybody’s expectations are managed, and everybody gets their questions answered as honestly as possible,” she said.

Flores mentioned that part of their talks with the CNMI administration is to have a townhall meeting down the road for community members to voice their opinions.

Torres echoed this, saying the people of the CNMI community and their safety come first.

“The people come first, their opinions come first and I’m going to value that. This is an opportunity for us to help Guam and it is an opportunity for us to push forward with the rehabilitative programs I would like to institute in our DOC,” he said.

In sharing some shared some insights on the current situation faced by the Guam correctional facility, Bordallo said about 848 inmates are currently housed at the Guam DOC.

“We are experiencing an overcapacity issue right now. This is the highest it’s ever been,” he said.

About half of the detainees at the Guam DOC, Bordallo said, are pre-trial detainees and the number continues to rise.

If an agreement between Saipan and Guam DOC were to happen in the future, Guam DOC has a little over 100 non-violent offenders who may be transferred to Saipan, Bordallo said.

However, Bordallo said these inmates will still be vetted by both Guam and Saipan Torres to ensure the safety of the CNMI community.