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| State could solve county jail woes |
| By helenair.com - Independent Record |
| Published: 11/02/2011 |
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Lewis and Clark County officials say our jail is too crowded and we need more space. The state of Montana Department of Corrections is soon going to request proposals for someone to provide 120 more beds for the state corrections system. Local officials should explore the possibility of partnering with the state on a new regional jail/county detention center that would meet the needs of both entities and save on the cost for each. The state will request bids within a month or so for 120 new beds, and several local governments and private prison operators have indicated they’ll bid for the contract. With a new county jail needed anyway to replace the undersized facility next to the county courthouse, a potential state partnership could be a creative way for the county to get a new jail built faster and for less money than it would take going it alone. It would not be an unprecedented arrangement; local governments have worked with Corrections on these kinds of arrangements in the past. Three Montana counties — Missoula, Cascade and Dawson — have been or are currently home to joint state/county facilities. Sheriff Leo Dutton on Tuesday said he’d be willing to look into a partnership, and whether the county has the time and resources necessary to put a credible bid together in the next few months. “I think we have to give anything that has merit due diligence, and I think that has merit,” he said. “If it makes it more affordable for the Lewis and Clark County taxpayers, it’s absolutely something we should think about.” Read More. |
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