Flathead County Seeks Grant to Study Construction of New Jail

As the new year approaches, Flathead County officials are facing the same problem they had at the dawn of 2015: an overcrowded jail with few options for relief in the near future.

This month, Flathead County applied for a $50,000 planning grant that would commission a study to look at what exactly it would need in a new jail. The study would come just months after plans to turn the old Walmart in Evergreen into a jail fell through when the owner of the shuttered building found a better offer.

“We need to do some analysis and find out exactly what our end goal is for a new jail,” Flathead County Administrative Officer Mike Pence said. “We also want to look at future needs and take a long range view beyond what we’ll need for the next 20 years.”

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development distributes the community development block grants and Pence said he is optimistic Flathead County would be one of the recipients. The county expects to learn if it has won the grant next month.

The study will determine how many beds the county jail would need in the future. It would also determine potential locations for the jail. Pence said officials would consider building a new jail on land the county already owns or on land it could purchase. He also said the study would look at ways to expand the current jail, although Pence notes that option now seems like a last resort.

Pence said it could take two to three years to plan and construct a new jail.

This fall, the Flathead County Commission approved a plan to move juvenile inmates to a facility in Missoula to make more room for adults. The former juvenile facility is being upgraded and adult female inmates will soon be moved there.

Flathead County has long grappled with a growing jail population, but the problem came to a head earlier this year. The current Flathead County Detention Center, which is located in the Justice Center, was built in 1985 to hold 63 inmates. But it is now regularly holding more than 100 inmates every night. In October that number nearly hit 120.

In the past, jail officials have worked with District Court judges and the county attorney’s office to release low-risk adult prisoners. But Sheriff Chuck Curry said on two occasions inmates released on a Friday were back in the jail before the end of the weekend. One had stolen multiple cars during the time he was free.

Flathead County is not alone when it comes to crowded jails, according to a recent report by the American Civil Liberties Union. For example, the report found that Yellowstone County Jail was built to hold approximately 285 inmates but is often holding more than 400. The ACLU report placed much of the blame on shrinking budgets and a sluggish criminal justice system.