The Flathead County Commission has asked a design firm to study how much it would cost to expand the jail into the soon to be empty county attorney’s office at the Justice Center.
Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry told the commission on April 27 that the potential expansion of the current jail would help address the overcrowding “crisis” until a new facility is built.
“While I’m concerned about what we’re going to do about our jail overcrowding in five years, I’m even more concerned about what we’re going to do this weekend or next week,” Curry said.
The proposal comes as the county attorney’s office prepares to move into the newly renovated old jail that sits directly behind the courthouse. The move – expected to take place in the next six weeks, according to county administrator Mike Pence – will free up about 4,500 square feet of space on the second floor of the justice center. Previously, plans called for the Justice Court and Clerk of Court’s office to expand into the old county attorney’s space, but officials believe the space could be better used to hold those incarcerated.
The current county jail was built to hold about 60 inmates, but it often houses more than 100 adults every night. In the past, jail officials have worked with district court judges and the county attorney’s office to release low-risk adult prisoners. Curry said on two occasions last year, inmates released on a Friday were back in the jail before the end of the weekend. One had stolen multiple cars during the days he was free.
Late last year, the county moved its juvenile inmates to Missoula and put female inmates in the old youth facility. At the time, the county jail was averaging 12 female inmates, which is what the juvenile facility could hold. Las week the jail had two-dozen female prisoners. Half of the females had to be kept in the main jail, requiring male inmates to be moved around.
Curry said the county and the justice system should look at finding new ways of dealing with offenders, including offering alternative treatments and punishments.
“We need to look at ways to increase our capacity but also decrease our jail population,” he said.
However, officials say a new or expanded jail is necessary because of a growing population in the valley. When the current jail was built in the mid-1980s, there were about 55,000 people in Flathead County. Today there are upwards of 93,000.
Last year, the county nearly purchased the old WalMart in Evergreen in hopes of turning that into a jail, but that deal eventually fell through. The WalMart has since become a U-Haul store.
Curry said he is unsure how many more inmates the jail could hold if it expanded into the second-floor county attorney’s office, although he told the commission he hoped it could hold 30 to 50 additional beds. The study, being conducted by CTA Architects and Reilly Johnson Architecture, is expected to take up to six weeks. If the expansion is deemed economically feasible, Curry was hopeful the jail could expand within a year.
Meanwhile, county officials are keeping an eye toward the future. Next week, Curry, Pence, Commissioner Pam Holmquist and Jail Commander Jenny Root will travel to Colorado to attend a jail-planning seminar hosted by the National Institute of Corrections.