Supreme Court justices signaled they may order corrections officials to make reports every 90 days on pretrial jail inmates.

Oahu Community Correctional Center remains the site of the largest coronavirus outbreak in state jails and prisons.

But prison officials say they already comply with a 2019 law that requires reviews of all pretrial detainees every three months.

Crowded conditions in state-run jails are aggravating the spread of Covid-19, but the portable cells have been no help so far.

The prosecutor and corrections officials say the releases aren’t needed to reduce the spread of Covid-19 because inmates now have access to vaccines.

The state will allow a five-member panel to review its efforts to control the spread of Covid-19 after more than 2,700 inmates were infected.

The filing argues the threat from Covid-19 inside Hawaii prisons and jails is greater now than it was last year when some prisoners were released.

Staff members at the Oahu Community Correctional Center blame the failure to follow proper procedures to reduce infections.

Settlement talks are underway including the creation of a panel to oversee reforms needed to cope with the pandemic in Hawaii’s prisons and jails.

The murder of Jacob Russell, 56, drew attention to Hawaii’s practice of withholding information when inmates die in custody.