The Montana Department of Corrections expanded a program that sends Montana inmates to a private prison in Arizona. Initially, 120 inmates were to be sent out of state. Now, there’s more than double that number of inmates housed in Arizona. MTPR’s Elinor Smith sat down with Lee Newspaper’s State News Bureau’s Seaborn Larson to discuss the inmate counts.
Smith: Seaborn, thank you so much for being here today.
Larson: Thanks for having me.
Smith: Of course. Why did the Department of Corrections expand this program without keeping lawmakers in the loop?
Larson: So, we heard this week from the Montana Department of Corrections that they had essentially lost a contract with Missoula County for a facility there to house people in state custody who are serving out shorter terms on disciplinary actions or being assessed for future placement.
So, without that facility, Montana Department of Corrections Director, Brian Gootkin, said he had 140 people in state custody who needed to be placed right away. And so due to that urgency, he had begun the bidding process to obtain 120 more beds at Saguaro Correctional Center in Arizona.
Smith: Can you explain how the 2023 Montana legislature initially came to the decision to send inmates to Arizona?
Larson: Definitely, it was kind of hard to follow at the legislature last year. The proposal to send 120 inmates, all men, to the Arizona prison was sort of a big fight. Republicans in the majority kind of had different positions on it-- whether it was a good use of the state budget, whether it was the right idea for the state's goals in reducing recidivism.
And I think the kind of prevailing issue was that overcrowding problem that they needed to take care of. Down at the county level, sheriffs have been pretty upset with the number of people in state custody who are still in their facilities. And so, after some tough debates, the legislature ultimately agreed to send those inmates down there and passed the bill doing so.
Smith: And what are lawmakers saying about the expansion of this program now that things have come to light for them?
Larson: I think kind of the most revealing answers we got from lawmakers was on Tuesday at the prison capacity committee hearing-- where lawmakers really do understand that the department is up against kind of a big fight with trying to manage its prison population.
There are inmates at Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge who are staying in essentially former broom closets. People are being shuffled around constantly just trying to manage that space.
You know, what we didn't really hear from yesterday was Democrats on the committee who were not present for the hearing. Last week I did talk to two Democrats who were sort of wary of expanding that contract with CoreCivic given that the original deal was set in statute.
Smith: How much money was initially allotted for this program, and how much will it cost the state now?
Larson: Initially, the bill that the legislature passed to approve this deal was for roughly $4 million over a two-year period. So that was $8 million. The new contract is for the same rate per day, per bed. So we're looking at a $16 million new deal.
And just some quick napkin math here-- I would say that we had spent essentially $3 million since last November under the original contract. So, as it stands right now, CoreCivic stands to net about $19 million from this agreement.
Smith: So moving forward, how is Montana planning to address overcrowding during the 2025 legislative session?
Larson: Yeah, there are a lot of options and expensive ones on the table that this committee is trying to hammer out in the next couple weeks.
One thing that's already moving forward was a replacement to the low security housing at Montana State Prison. That, along with the renovation of another unit at the facility should get the prison about 117 more beds.
The other options this committee has been looking at is expanding that low security housing build to include two or three more units. Then we'd be talking about maybe four or five hundred new beds in that time.
Smith: Well, thank you so much for being here today. I appreciate it.
Larson: You're very welcome.
