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Ted Sakai, a member of Hawaii’s Correctional System Oversight Commission announced his resignation from the panel on Monday.

Sakai, who was appointed to serve on the commission after it was established in 2019, said he is undergoing treatment for lung cancer.

Fellow commissioners praised Sakai for his many years of service to the state’s correctional system and the unique experience he brought to the commission. 

“Ted was probably the top correctional administrator in the state,” said commission Chair Mark Patterson, the administrator of the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility. “He is irreplaceable.”

Sakai served as director of the Department of Public Safety from 1998 until he retired in 2002, according to a press release sent Monday by commission coordinator Christin Johnson. In 2012, then-Gov. Neil Abercrombie persuaded Sakai to come out of retirement and serve a second term as director. Sakai won an “outstanding director of corrections award” from the Association of State Correctional Administrators in 2014. 

He served in many other correctional roles throughout his 50-year career, including as executive director of the John Howard Association of Hawaii, which is now called the Community Assistance Center and is dedicated to helping newly released inmates reintegrate into society.  He also was executive director for Pu’ulu Lapa’au, which helps health care professionals with substance use disorders, mental illness and other health concerns. 

Colleagues say Sakai has compassion for those affected by the criminal justice system and has dedicated his career to making the system more humane.

“I have worked alongside Ted for over 40 years and there is no one in the State of Hawaii who is as experienced or knowledgeable about all aspects of corrections as Ted Sakai,” Commissioner Martha Torney, who was formerly executive director of the Office of Youth Services, said in a statement.

The five-member commission has faced many challenges since it was created by the Legislature in 2019. The group, which is made up of volunteer commissioners, was authorized to have a paid coordinator, but the position when then-Gov. David Ige appointed Johnson, a former New York Board of Corrections monitor. 

This year, state lawmakers failed to fund the commission, and Gov. Josh Green later stepped in to provide $413,388 to partially fund it through July 2024. 

Recently, Department of Public Safety Director Tommy Johnson told the commission neither he nor his staff would continue to attend meetings, though he said he would work with the commission and respond to queries. 

Green now must appoint Sakai’s replacement. Anyone interested in serving can submit an application through .

Patterson didn’t want to comment on potential candidates but said it would be beneficial to choose someone who had been through the justice system themselves.

Green said in a statement it was too early to discuss potential candidates but thanked Sakai for his service to the commission.

“Mr. Sakai has dedicated some 50 years of public service to helping ensure our communities are safer,” Green’s statement said. “Whether as a director, a consultant or a volunteer commissioner, his extensive experience and knowledge will be greatly missed.”

Sakai said he hopes the commission will continue to help push Hawaii’s criminal justice system to be less punitive and more rehabilitative. The Department of Public Safety will be renamed the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation on Jan. 1. 

“I hope the department can change their whole outlook more than just their name,” he said. “I think there’s a long way for them to go to become a true Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and I hope the commission can help steer them in the right direction.”

The commission has also urged the Department of Public Safety to pause its plans for a new, $900-million Oahu jail. Prison officials say the deteriorating Oahu Community Correctional Center needs to be replaced as soon as possible. However, commissioners, including Sakai, have expressed concern that the state is devoting too many resources to the building and not enough attention to programs that could reduce the number of inmates. 

“I think you’ve got to look at who goes to jail and prison, how do we get them out at the earliest and safest possible time so that the correctional facilities are used only for offenders who really need to be incarcerated,” Sakai said. “And then we can develop a range of programs in the community to help keep people away from the lockup.”