Flathead County Officials Launch Outreach Campaign to Advocate for New Jail Bond

Flathead County officials on July 1 launched a campaign to educate taxpayers about a $105 million bond for a new jail in south Kalispell, a project that would double the inmate capacity of the current detention center and relocate to Lower Valley.

The bond will be on the ballot during the next general election on Nov. 4, 2025.

In the Flathead County Commissioner’s Chambers on Tuesday afternoon, elected officials spoke in support of the long-overdue proposal that would address overcrowding, accommodate the high volume of mentally ill inmates and create a safer working environment for staff.

“What’s at stake right now is we have overcrowding that has evolved from an inconvenience to a danger for staff and inmates,” Flathead County Sheriff Brian Heino said. “The public facility lacks the ability to safely separate inmates, provide special services or house violent and vulnerable individuals appropriately.”

In addition to doubling inmate capacity, the new jail design would enhance safety and efficiency with a central hub on a single floor and implement the latest technology like automatic cell locks. Detention staff currently must manually lock and unlock cells, which would pose a danger in a hazardous situation like a structure fire.

Jail Commander Jenny Root said the new jail’s design would offer indirect supervision with a control tower, which allows staff to supervise all inmates at the same time while separating the mental health wing from the general population.

While the jail would double in size, Root said only 14 new employees would be added to the current staff of 38 because of the efficient design.

“It’s very staff efficient – it’s safe, it’s up to date and the technology is something we’ve never even imagined,” Root said.

Built in 1987, the current jail on Main Street originally housed 63 inmates and has since not kept up with the area’s population. In 2018, the jail increased its capacity to 154 beds, but the facility can only operate at roughly 75% due to the high volume of mentally ill or violent inmates who require additional space.

Making up about 10% of the jail population, the mentally ill inmates far exceed the four-bed medical wing and the new design would increase the capacity to 30 beds.

“Our mental health section creates the worst of the worst chaos,” Root said. “It’s actually going to have its own little area, so it doesn’t interfere with operations.”

While a new detention center would help address crowding and offer a safer environment for inmates and staff, Root plans to bring in more programming at the jail to help reduce recidivism by offering life skills like building resumes and offering mental health programming.

“Our goal ultimately is to return people into our community better than when we received them,” Root said.

The new jail’s overall increased capacity would also help with the county’s judicial operations, according to Flathead County Justice of the Peace Eric Hummel, who says the current detention center’s capacity “dictates outcomes.”

“Judges may be forced to release offenders early, adjust sentencing or delay justice due to the lack of available beds,” Hummel said. “These compromises erode community trust. They’re unfair to victims, to law enforcement and those who need intervention. Justice should be guided by the law, not the number of available beds.”

To fund the new facility, Flathead County Commissioner Pam Holmquist said a jail savings account was established in 2017, which has primarily come from federal funding.

“I knew that building this facility was going to be very expensive and require a bond at some point, so the county started a savings account for the jail in 2017,” Holmquist said. “My hope was to ease the burden on our taxpayers when time came for the bond.”

The bond is expressed in mills, with one mil equaling $1 in taxes per $1,000 of the assessed property value.

For example, the taxable value of a $100,000 home in fiscal year 2025/2026 would cost a taxpayer $11.70 per year; a $300,000 home would cost $35.10; and a $600,000 home would cost $80.66. Taxes would decrease in fiscal year 2026/2027 due to the recent property tax law enacted by the 2025 Legislature.

After county officials began setting aside funding for the detention center, a facility analysis was conducted in the summer of 2018, but plans stalled until 2023 when a needs assessment was conducted and concluded a capacity of 250 beds was needed in the future jail.

Last year, the county purchased a $3.9 million, 115-acre property in Lower Valley located at 225 Snowline Lane and Elevatus Architecture was selected to design the facility. Earlier this year, a pre-construction service contract was signed with Martel Construction.

If passed, county officials hope to open doors at the new facility in three years.

“I’m very pleased with the numbers and very excited to hopefully see the light at the end of the tunnel for this much needed jail,” Holmquist said.

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