I am a lifelong Kalispell resident whose family came to Montana over 100 years ago. I am an avid law enforcement supporter and have a degree in criminal justice. I served in a law enforcement-adjacent career for nearly a decade. As much as I know we could desperately use a new justice center, I voted against the recent bond.
The main issue in my mind is capacity. While the proposed new facility has a capacity of 260 inmates (200 general population) more than doubles the current capacity, I fear it is too small. The current jail, built in 1987, has 154 beds, however, according to the county the “safe” capacity is 96. I remember hearing about how overcrowded the “new” jail was when I was a child.
How about all the current arrestees that are either cited and released or booked and released with little or no bond due to overcrowding? The 200-bed capacity seems severely short-sighted. As of Election Day there were 317 people with at least one felony warrant on the county’s website. With a higher jail capacity can we round up some of those folks?
I hope the sheriff’s department, county commissioners and other decision makers seriously consider if the new jail will be sufficient. I would hate for taxpayers to spend over a hundred million dollars to have it outdated by the time the ribbon is cut.
Montana Danford-Komenda
Kalispell