Montana Department of Corrections working to move inmates from local jails, but struggles with capacity

MISSOULA — The Montana Department of Corrections this week said it’s working on plans to move inmates out of county jails to the state prison and is looking for long-term solutions to overcrowding and capacity issues.

Missoula County this month launched a disputewith the state agency, saying that it’s using local jails to house its own inmates and not funding the full cost of doing so. It also claims that state inmates aren’t getting treated for addiction or mental health issues while held in county jails.

Carolynn Stocker, the communications director for the Department of Corrections, said the agency is doing what it can to address those concerns, which are held by a number of counties.

“We’re trying to move people out of those jails as quickly as we possibly can,” Stocker said. “Every single facility we have is overcrowded right now.”

As of Thursday, the Department of Corrections listed 473 jail holds, including 41 in the Missoula County Detention Facility. Of those, 178 are currently pending transport to prison.

However, the Montana State Prison’s current population stands at 1,588 while its operational capacity is 1,526. The Montana Women’s Prison listed its population at 247 while its operational capacity is 240.

“We have nowhere to put the people,” Stocker said.

Missoula County sent notice to the statethat it plans to revoke its consent to hold state offenders at the local jail without prior permission unless the Department of Corrections pays the full cost of housing that inmate.

According to the county, the running cost of housing a single inmate for one day at the local jail stands at $125. But the Department of Corrections reimburses the county just $82 for holding one of its inmates.

County officials said that leaves local taxpayers to cover the remainder of the cost.

“They’re not paying the actual cost currently set by the county at $125, therefore shifting that difference to Missoula County taxpayers for individuals we’re not responsible for,” said jail commander Sheryl Ziegler. “We’re trying to avoid that continued financial burden we’re placing on county taxpayers.”

The payment issue has lingered for years, but Stocker said it’s one the Department of Corrections can’t control.

“Those rates are set by the Legislature,” she said. “We are where we are for now.”

The county also accused the state of failing to address capacity issues and mental health. Among other things, it said state inmates held at the county jail “stay with us until they reach eligibility for parole and they’re released and never get treatment.”

Stocker said the Department of Corrections would need specific examples before commenting on the issue.

“I would need specific examples of people put in jail. There is generally treatment programming requirements from the judge,” she said. “But we know that local detention centers aren’t set up for that type of programming.”

This week, the state’s Select Committee on Corrections Facility Capacity and System Development moved closer to finalizing a reporton how to expand Montana’s prison capacity.

Among other things, it considers adding more beds to the Montana State Prison and building a new women’s prison, nearly doubling the capacity there to 500 beds.

It may also consider moving Montana inmates to contracted prisons in other states like it did recently when it shipped 120 inmates to Arizona. The proposal also looks to “fund additional contracted capacity in lieu of facility construction.”

In all, according to the committee’s draft report, Montana’s offender population has grown by nearly 65% over the last 24 years – more than twice the rate of the state’s resident population.

“At some point, we have to recommend something,” said Rep. John Fitzpatrick. “We’ve studied this thing about five times in the last 20 years and haven’t done anything. The first step in doing something is to have someone recommend you do it.”