Inside Montana
Basic Facts About Prisons and Montana
June 26, 2007 - 10:04pm| Number of Prisons | Montana DOC operates 2 prisons and holds a number of prisoners in 3 contract regional (multi-county) prisons, 5 pre-release centers, a for-profit prison operated by Corrections Corporation of America, and county jails. |
| Number of Prisoners | 3,833 in 2006 (including prisons, pre-release, boot camp, and in-custody drug & alcohol programs). |
| Women Prisoners | 263 of Montana's prisoners are women in prison or county jails. 209 are in pre-release centers or in-custody treatment programs. |
| State Population | 944,632 (based on 2006 US Census Population Estimate) |
| DOC Budget | The Department of Corrections budget for July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007, is $141 million which represents 9.4% of Montana's general fund. |
| DOC website | Montana Department of Corrections web site is updated with a daily population report and they have a page on visiting. |
| Death Penalty | Montana uses the death penalty. |
| Newspapers | The main newspapers in the state that cover stories related to prisons and Corrections policy are the Billings-Gazette and the Missoulian. You can see a fairly complete list of Montana newspapers here. |
MT: Judge Okay's Out-of-State Prisoners at Hardin Jail
June 16, 2008 - 4:04pm A Montana judge recently ruled that a jail built as a money-making scheme for the city of Hardin could accept prisoners from other states. This ruling overturned the opinion from the Montana Secretary of State that said jails could not contract with other states to incarcerate prisoners.
MT: Helena Pre-Release Center Helps People Transition from Prison
February 19, 2008 - 4:13pm The Helena Independent Record recently published a feature giving more insight into how Montana’s pre-release centers work. The story New Lease on Life reveals that prisoners transferred into the Helena Pre-Release Center find jobs and in one year paid $48,000 in restitution and $147,000 in taxes.
MT: Sheriff Says State Doesn’t Pay Enough
February 19, 2008 - 4:09pm The State of Montana incarcerates some state prisoners in county jails. The state will increase the amount it pays per prisoner in the Cascade County regional jail by $3.82 for a total of $52.82 per prisoner per day. The sheriff in Cascade County says that increase isn’t enough to cover the county’s costs.
MT: Investment in Programs Means Fewer Prisoners
January 10, 2008 - 4:32pm Fewer people are going into Montana’s prison system, even though the offender population is projected to grow at 6.2%.
