Yellowstone County Jail has been over capacity for nearly a decade. It averages 600 people in a facility intended for about 450. There are many causes for the backlog, including a lack of space in state prisons.
But Yellowstone County Attorney Scott Twito said the county is starting a new arraignment process for inmates.
“So we're going to do an arraignment court for felonies. We already do it for misdemeanors, but we're going to add felonies and we're going to have them heard in front of a justice of the peace.”
Arraignments are when defendants can enter a plea, a bond may be set or defendants released until their next court date. Twito said the daily hearings will help make the process more efficient by getting offenders seen more quickly.
Twito said the daily hearings will help make the process more efficient by getting offenders seen more quickly.
“This is every day in front of the justice court arraignment. Bond is set, served with a trial management order and away we go.”
Other counties struggle with similar capacity issues. There are 127 people held in county jails waiting to be transported to state prison. Gov. Greg Gianforte allotted $150 million dollars in his budget proposal to fund state prison expansion. The Department of Corrections also contracts with out-of-state facilities in Arizona and Mississippi to hold Montana inmates.
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