Officials in Columbia Falls have announced that they would consider housing a new prerelease center for the Flathead if the current committee in Kalispell cannot find an appropriate location.
Columbia Falls City Manager Bill Shaw said the prerelease center could be beneficial for the community because it would provide jobs and offer help for local offenders as they transition back to their communities from prison.
A prerelease center allows nonviolent offenders to finish out their sentences while working and staying in a secure facility with counseling, job training and education courses. The Department of Corrections awarded Butte-based Community, Counseling and Correctional Services, Inc. a contract for a 40-bed center last December.
Shaw said Columbia Falls has expressed interest in the project, but it cannot be considered until the prerelease center committee in Kalispell exhausts all location possibilities. The committee has had problems finding an appropriate location in the past, with 73 percent of neighboring landowners objecting to a previous locale.
Currently, the committee is considering a quarter-mile corridor near Pioneer Road, MT Highway 40 and U.S. Highway 2, according to Bonnie Olson, the prerelease committee chairperson. Olson said the committee is still searching in the greater Kalispell area because it would benefit the center and the people staying there.
It would be easier for the 40 men to find jobs in a bigger area, Olson said, but if jobs were not available they would perform community service.
“Right now, we’re continuing on with the course that has been set for us,” Olson said.
The prerelease site committee plans on holding another public hearing once they have more detailed information.
If the center is built in Columbia Falls, Shaw said there could be 25 to 27 jobs created, including administration, social work and maintenance positions. Shaw said he saw how a similar facility can benefit a community when he worked as a city manager in Washington. A neighboring town sent low-security prisoners to work around his town, performing simple chores.
“I just never saw any problems show up that weren’t immediately addressed by staff,” Shaw said. “I can’t imagine that this prerelease center would be different.”
The only difference with the prerelease center would be its look, which would be more similar to a hotel than a penitentiary. It would only house local offenders, people who would already be living in the area after their release.
So far, the comments from the Columbia Falls community on the potential facility have been largely positive, Shaw said. People have called asking for specifics on the location and the plan, but the city won’t know further details until a committee is formed and CCCS lets them know what they are looking for.