Mont. Panel Reluctantly Backs Importing of Prisoners

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By Great Falls Tribune

Published: 03/18/2003

A split House Judiciary Committee voted 12-6 February 12 to let the private prison in Shelby bring in out-of-state prisoners to fill empty beds.
Even some supporters had strong reservations about changes in the measure, and the committee added several tough amendments.
House Bill 451, by Rep. Edith Clark, R-Sweet Grass, would remove the earlier ban on private prisons bringing in out of state prisoners.
The committee added amendments to exclude bringing in federal prisoners convicted in other states and to require that out-of-state prisoners be physically separated from Montana prisoners and be returned to their home states at least three months before they are released.
The panel also approved a sunset provision that would allow the Legislature to end the importation of prisoners by mid-2006 if the Legislature believes it is not working right or no longer needed.
Shelby officials said the change is needed to keep the Crossroads Correctional Center open during what's expected to be a temporary drop in state prisoners.
Toole County officials say the $25 million, 512-bed facility has been an economic boon to the area since Corrections Corporation of America opened it in 1999.
State Corrections Director Bill Slaughter said the state would have to find 300 prison beds out of state for extra Montana prisoners or buy the Shelby facility for $28 million if the private company pulls out. He expects the state will need to send more prisoners to the Shelby prison again within a few years.
Even some committee members who supported the measure expressed strong reservations about changing policy that allowed private prisons, but banned them from bringing in prisoners from other states.
Rep. Scott Sales, R-Bozeman, said he dislikes private prisons and wishes the state never had gotten into them, just as he wishes the state never allowed game farms. But, he said the state needs to allow prison imports to shore up the prison temporarily because it made a commitment to Toole County and to prison operator CCA.
'I think this bill stinks, but I will hold my nose and vote for it,' he said.
Committee Chairman Jim Shockley, R-Victor, said the private prison was approved on the condition that it not import prisoners.
'We got screwed, we got lied to, we got deceived,' Shockley said, who nonetheless voted for the bill.
Other committee members were more sympathetic.
Rep. George Everett, R-Kalispell, said the private prison provides a lot of employees and pays a lot of school taxes in the Shelby area, and noted that the whole surrounding area supports it.
Opponents raised several concerns.
Rep. Brad Newman, D-Butte, said Montana would get 'the worst of the worst' prisoners. Newman, a prosecutor, said Montana itself 'sent some bad actors' to private prisons in Texas and Tennessee a few years ago. It doesn't make sense for states to ship out first time offenders convicted of minor charges who won't be imprisoned long, he added.
Rep. Paul Clark, D-Trout Creek, said the Legislature shouldn't break its commitment to the public to avoid out-of-state prisoners. CCA took the risk of coming to Montana and lawmakers shouldn't bail them out, he added.
Rep. Steve Gallus, D-Butte, charged that CCA is using the state's budget crisis, which caused the Corrections Department to release some prisoners early and reduce the inmate population of the Shelby prison, as an excuse to expand the Shelby by as many as 1,000 beds to handle 'federal thugs.'
Gallus said federal prisons are 'rampant' with gang activity and many federal prisoners were convicted on drug charges. Importing federal prisoners 'could lead to violence, deaths and all kinds of things we don't want in Montana,' he said.
Reached later by phone, Shelby Mayor Larry Bonderud said it was Shelby and Toole County officials, not the prison, who asked federal authorities to consider keeping Montana federal prisoners in Montana during the interim when state Corrections Department use of the Shelby prison is lower.
At any given time there are 100 to 200 offenders who have been convicted in Montana federal courts who are housed in county jails waiting to be sent to out of state federal prisons, which can take months, Bonderud said.
It would save the federal government money to keep them at the Shelby prison in Montana, physically separated from Montana's state prisoners, he said. It also would be kinder to the inmates and their families, which could help prevent the inmates from returning to crime, Bonderud said. Many of the federal prisoners are Native Americans, who have committed felonies on reservations, which are automatically federal offenses.
Only minimum and medium security prisoners would be accepted and the Corrections Department could screen out potential prisoners it felt were security or health risks, he said.
'If another state wants to send their 'worst of the worst,' Montana wouldn't accept them,' Bonderud added. 'If one or two slip through because of misclassification, the state could send them back and the contract would provide for sanctions against the sending state up to canceling the prison contract.'
The measure will move to the House of Representatives next.

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