The head of the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday accused the Lingle administration of withholding from the Legislature a highly critical federal report on mental health services at the state's largest prison, indicating the lack of disclosure will become an issue at the confirmation hearings of the attorney general and possibly the prisons' chief.

Not even the two leaders of the Senate and House committees that deal with the prison system had a copy of the report on O'ahu Community Correctional Center's mental health services yesterday, nor were they given one when they held a four-hour hearing earlier this month that focused on what can be done to improve the prison system, legislators said.

Attorney General Mark Bennett, however, said the Legislature was briefed last session in great detail about what federal investigators told the administration after they inspected OCCC's treatment of mentally ill inmates in October 2005. That information was cited by legislators in the 2006 session to justify funding to improve mental health services, Bennett said.

"This is like the opposite of hiding the ball," he said, later adding that "there shouldn't be any implication that we weren't telling the Legislature that we had a serious problem here."

Sen. Clayton Hee, Judiciary chairman, said the AG's office and the Department of Public Safety, which runs the prison system, have not been forthcoming with legislators in keeping them informed about the ongoing investigation.

Hee, D-23rd (Kane'ohe, Kahuku) was critical of the two agencies following an Advertiser story on Sunday that detailed findings of three medical experts who inspected OCCC in late 2005 and wrote a stinging report on the deficiencies they found. A copy of the report, which does not represent the official position of the Justice Department, was given to the state administration in July 2006 to help the state begin addressing the OCCC deficiencies identified by the experts.

Hee said the Legislature has not been briefed on the experts' report, and he got a copy recently through unofficial channels.

Sen. Will Espero, D-20th ('Ewa Beach, Waipahu), chairman of the Senate Public Safety Committee, said he read about the report in Sunday's newspaper and has since requested a copy from the department. "This might be a case where the administration might be a little bit embarrassed or not comfortable sharing this information," Espero said.

But Bennett said the administration informed legislators last session about what the inspectors briefed them on following their 2005 visit, and legislators cited those concerns when including $1.5 million for 26 permanent DPS positions to improve mental health services. In written testimony and supplemental documents submitted as part of the budget process last year, DPS cited seven key deficiencies identified by the investigators and warned that failing to correct them could result in legal action by the Justice Department, according to the documents.

The House-Senate committee that approved the state budget bill subsequently referred to Justice's concerns in justifying the funding.

"Although the report's findings are not yet public, your committee on conference believes it would be prudent to take a proactive approach and address concerns reported in the evaluator's exit interviews," the House-Senate committee said.

Bennett said the state didn't receive the experts' report until July, when the Legislature was not in session, and it was provided as an internal working document. The administration got its first request from the Legislature yesterday for the report, and the document will be provided, he said.

Hee said the report, even though it does not reflect the agency's official findings, contains information that is relevant to the Legislature as it considers additional budget requests dealing with prison mental healthcare.

He said he intends to raise the disclosure issue when Bennett comes before his committee at the confirmation hearing.

Because Gov. Linda Lingle is beginning a second term following her November re-election, her Cabinet members must be reconfirmed by the Senate.

Espero said the probe could be an issue in the confirmation of Iwalani White, the interim director of DPS.

"If I don't get the information I'm seeking, it could play a role in her confirmation," Espero said, noting that thus far the agency has been unimpressive in the timely response to information requests.

The psychiatrists assisting in the federal investigation found widespread deficiencies at OCCC in October 2005 and noted that many seriously mentally ill inmates were harmed because of inadequate treatment. The department has said it immediately started addressing concerns raised by investigators.

Reach Rob Perez at rperez@honoluluadvertiser.com.