Is this typical? Can anyone explain why this is happening? Hawaii, prison issues. 10 Points to best answer.?

I believe Hawaii is chronically short of prison space. They were shipping prisoners to other states in the 1990s. They were supposed to build more prisons but I don't think they ever did. Your half-brother's sentence is short enough that it's probably not cost-effective to ship him to another state, so I'd guess they're moving him around to wherever they have space.