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| Montana Bill Would Allow Private Prison to Import Inmates |
| By Billings Gazette |
| Published: 03/05/2003 |
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The state's only private prison is losing money and needs to bring in out-of-state inmates to make ends meet, Corrections Department and prison officials told the House Judiciary Committee on February 4. 'Crossroads Correctional Center is a business,' said Allan Underdal, a Toole County commissioner. 'It is no less important to our town than Malmstrom is to Great Falls or the universities in Missoula and Bozeman.' Rep. Edith Clark, R-Sweetgrass, has proposed allowing the Shelby private prison to take out-of-state convicts. Her House Bill 451 would reverse the section of Montana's 1999 private prison law - that Clark helped get on the books - that bars out-of-state prisoners. 'I'm unfortunately older now,' said Clark. 'And I'm wiser.' Clark and other state and local officials said the private prison is a safe, important part of the Hi-line economy and shouldn't be jeopardized. The 512-bed private prison opened in 1999. At the time, said Warden Jim MacDonald, the company didn't think they'd need out-of-state inmates because Montana' s prison system was growing fast. It appeared that the Shelby prison would be full in a matter of months, he said. But last summer, as tough economic times came to state g overnment, the state started withdrawing prisoners in order to cut expenses. Today, the prison has 324 inmates and is about 35 percent vacant, MacDonald said. The prison is losing money and has had to lay off employees, he said. 'Reducing quality of service and reduced public safety is not an option,' MacDonald said Bill Slaughter, director of the state Department of Corrections, said the state can't afford to lose the private prison. Eventually, he said, Montana's prison population will grow again and the state will need a place to house its offenders. Although the bill itself doesn' t mention it, Slaughter said any contract between the state and the company would have certain safeguards. Montana would get first bids on all open prison cells. Department officials would be able to screen incoming out-of-staters to make sure they didn 't have dangerous diseases or gang connections. And no out-of-state inmates would be released into Shelby or any other community in Montana. The prison had its first major problem earlier this month when a 20-year-old inmate serving time for bad checks was beaten to death in the prison gymnasium by another inmate. Although only one person spoke against the bill, a recent poll suggests the overwhelming majority of Montanans do not support the idea of allowing out-of-state inmates. The Lee State Poll conducted in mid-December by a Washington, D.C. research firm showed that 72 percent of Montanans rejected the idea. An unofficial poll of Toole County voters in December showed that 78 percent of county residents support accepting out-of-state inmates. Betty Whiting, a lobbyist for the Montana Association of Churches, offered the lone voice of dissent. 'We're opposed to private prisons,' she said. 'We the people should be more responsible for our prisoners.' |
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