HILO >> A former inmate is suing the Department of Public Safety claiming he was locked up for 20 days beyond his scheduled release date.

Michael Kaonohi Perry Jr., 44, filed the lawsuit in mid-October after he was released from the Hawaii Community Correctional Center on Nov. 30, 2016, instead of Nov. 10, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported.

Perry was sentenced to 90 days in jail after his probation in a misdemeanor terroristic threatening case was revoked in August 2016, according to the lawsuit. He was not released until his court- appointed public defender contacted the facility to see why his release was refused.

Correctional officers somehow did not receive Perry’s release documents, his attorney Jason Kwiat said.

The lawsuit also names as defendants department director Nolan Espinda, corrections deputy director Jodie Maesaka- Hirata and jail warden Peter Cabreros.

“We are hoping to settle the matter instead of litigating it because it’s clear he should’ve been released and he wasn’t,” Kwiat said.

Another former inmate at HCCC sued the department after he was released in January 2015, 65 days beyond his scheduled release date. The department settled the case for $10,000 in April 2017, according to court documents.

“It’s an ongoing systemic problem, whether they’re releasing them early or releasing them late,” Kwiat said.

The department had not yet been served with the lawsuit, said spokeswoman Toni Schwartz.