Committee finalizing report on proposals to expand Montana’s prison capacity

The Montana Women's Prison in BIllings (Photo by Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montanan).

A week after confirming the Montana Department of Corrections had quietly amended its contract with private prison company CoreCivic to send another 120 state prisoners to Arizona , Director Brian Gootkin told the legislative committee in charge of addressing the state’s prison capacity Tuesday that he would be happy with any plan under consideration so long as it expands prison capacity.

The Select Committee on Corrections Facility Capacity and System Developmen t is in the process of finalizing its report on how to do just that, and the draft report presented at Tuesday’s meeting contains several options, including building more capacity at the Montana State Prison, building a new women’s prison, and possibly putting more inmates at contracted prisons like the Saguaro Correction Center in Arizona.

When Rep. John Fitzpatrick, R-Anaconda, asked Gootkin which of the recommendations the Department of Corrections would prioritize, he did not commit to any of them, saying he sees needs for both male and female populations, which both are projected to grow during the next decade.

“The simple answer and the brutally honest answer is we’ll take whatever we can get. We’re hurting that bad,” Gootkin said. “But as far as a priority, that’s tough to say because the men are our biggest number, but the female are our biggest issue and challenge.”

He told the committee that jail holds are “higher than ever,” with 474 state inmates in county jails as of Tuesday and 178 of them who are awaiting transfer to prisons. He said that was part of the reason for sending 120 more prisoners to Arizona this month, along with the contract for additional beds between the department and Missoula County expiring because the two sides could not come to an agreement.

He apologized to the committee for not telling members about the changes to the contract, which now runs through July 2026, and the additional Arizona prisoners, however.

“I had 144 beds that I had to take care of immediately, so I made that decision. And knowing there was no additional money that was in our base … we were figuring out how to do that within our budget and to work on getting those people moved to lessen the impact on the local sheriffs,” he said. “And, so, my apologies for not communicating that to the legislators. That’s on me. However, I made that command decision that we had to get people moved to lessen the impact.”

Much of the rest of the meeting involved what the Department of Corrections needs money-wise to continue moving forward with the ongoing expansion of lower-security housing at the state prison approved during last year’s session, and options to expand prison capacities for both the male and female populations beyond that.

According to the committee’s draft final report , the male offender population has grown 57% since 2000, while the female population has grown by 170% during the same period. That means the overall offender population has grown about 65% since 2000, while Montana’s overall population has grown by 26% in comparison.

The committee has discussed during the interim , which is reflected in the report, that part of the increase is due to an increase in more violent and serious crimes being committed that carry longer prison sentences even though overall crime is down in Montana. The number of first-time offenders going to prison also rose sharply after 2019.

The committee’s report also estimates there will be an additional 600 prisoners in the system through Fiscal Year 2034 as criminals continue to receive longer sentences for more violent offenses. But that goes up to 900 more prisoners when accounting for state inmates still at county jails awaiting a bed at a prison.

Last year’s legislature appropriated $170 million for the replacement of the low-side housing units and the renovation of another at the Montana State Prison, which will create an additional 117 beds. A construction official on the project said Tuesday the design phase is nearly complete and crews will hopefully start construction next spring.

But the draft report says the project will need another $41 million to fund infrastructure for the buildout, including replacing the water distribution system, a wastewater lagoon system, and an old electrical system. There is also a request for another $6 million to upgrade the perimeter at the prison.

The draft report also considers building out two more 256-bed housing units and a programming facility adjacent to the three new low-side units that would use the same infrastructure and would expand the number of beds available from 768 to 1280.

If that option is chosen by lawmakers and the department next year, it would cost an estimated $128 million if budgeted next year for completion by 2029. But waiting until 2035 to budget such a project would cost an estimated $202 million, according to the draft report.

Another committee proposal is to fund construction of a new Montana Women’s Prison that would increase the capacity from 240 beds to between 450 and 500 beds, as the female population has recently been growing more quickly than the male population. It would also free up those 240 beds at the existing women’s prison. The report estimates that would cost between $283 million and $400 million.

Gootkin said the Department of Corrections has had initial discussions with Yellowstone County about sharing space for a female prison and a new county detention center. He said he had also spoken with the Cascade County sheriff about finding a way to open up beds at a prison in Great Falls and with CoreCivic to expand the number of beds available at the Crossroads Correctional Facility in Shelby.

The final option in the committee’s draft report would be to send more prisoners to privately owned prisons like the one in Arizona so around 600 Montana prisoners would be housed at contracted facilities.

But the report says that would cost an estimated $232 million during the next decade – about $104 million more than it would cost to continuing building out beds at the Montana State Prison.

Several lawmakers said while they are performing their statutory duties as a select committee to figure out how to expand the state’s prison capacity, they would like to hear more specific priorities from Gootkin and his department instead of a “we’ll take whatever” approach.

“You were asked what the priority would be for the department. I think you should put some thought into that between now and (Sept. 17) because I don’t think we’re going to be able to do everything on this list,” committee chairperson Sen. John Esp, R-Big Timber, told Gootkin. “But what is the most pressing need and what’s the best way to address that need?”

He added that the department is managing the population and should have a “clear view” of what their priorities should be. And Fitzpatrick noted that the legislature will not have a $2 billion budget surplus to work with this coming year like it did last session and will have to be pickier in terms of what projects it is funding.

“I think we have to go forward with at least some recommendations. To simply list options is, in my mind, a way of saying we can’t make up our mind, and we simply have to make up our mind,” he said. “We have a situation with our prisoner population, both male and female, that’s fundamentally out of control. There’s not very much that we’re going to be able to do to stop it given the epidemic of crime not only in Montana, but across this country, and we have to deal with the issue.”

Esp will have a first chance to present the initial draft report to the Law and Justice Interim Committee on Sept. 10, then the committee will meet again on Sept. 17 to hear again from the Department of Corrections, CoreCivic and possibly others before finalizing its report so it can presented to the Legislative Finance Committee and the governor.