The public will have an opportunity to comment on state plans for a proposed new jail on what is now the site of the Animal Quarantine Station in Halawa Valley at a public meeting tonight.

The proposed all-male jail would cost an estimated $525 million and have 1,044 beds. It would be the first major new correctional facility built in Hawaii since Halawa Medium Security Correctional Facility opened in 1987.

The state recently published a draft environmental impact statement for the project, and the hearing at 7 p.m. today at the Aloha Stadium Hospitality Room at 99-500 Salt Lake Blvd. will allow the public a chance to provide comments and input for the EIS.

The new jail would replace the aging Oahu Community Correctional Center. Lawmakers for years have wanted to close OCCC and redevelop the existing 16-acre jail site in urban Honolulu along the planned city rail line.

OCCC is also extremely overcrowded. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice asking it to investigate the crowded conditions, alleging they amount to unconstitutional “cruel and unusual punishment.”

The new jail would be for men only, and the 140 women now held at OCCC would be moved to the Women’s Community Correctional Center in Kailua. The cost of adding bed space for those women at WCCC is not included in the $525 million price tag for the new jail.

Critics believe a new facility is not needed, and contend the state should reduce the size of its incarcerated population. They advocate instead for stepped-up investment in community-based treatment and other programs.

State consultants have produced a jail population forecast that concludes the number of male detainees at OCCC will drop to 959 in 2026 from 1,271 today. To house those inmates, the consultants proposed that the new facility have 1,044 detention beds.