DOC progressing on massive expansion at Montana State Prison
Jordan Hansen
DEER LODGE (Daily Montanan) – A massive expansion at Montana State Prison is well underway outside of Deer Lodge, with one of three housing buildings on its way to completion.
State corrections officials were on hand Wednesday morning for a tour of the facility, which will add around 1,000 prison beds. Montana has dealt with prison overcrowding issues, with Department of Corrections director Eric Strauss saying about 600 prisoners are currently housed out-of-state and more than 50 are currently housed in county detention facilities.
When the project is complete, out-of-state prisoners will be brought back to Montana, Strauss said.
Montana is in the process of moving its prisoners currently held in Arizona at Saguaro Correctional Center to Mississippi’s Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility. The move was done to provide greater consistency for Montana prisoners, Lee Newspapers first reported in March.
Montana out-of-state prisoners had previously been split between the two locations. Families of those incarcerated have expressed frustration with prisoners being held out-of-state as a solution to crowding issues in Montana’s correctional facilities.
Some advocates have also pushed the state to pursue an “ombudsman” position to better connect families with out-of-state prisoners and deal with issues arising outside of the state’s borders.
Strauss said there is “no question” that moving incarcerated people currently out-of-state will have a positive impact, both on them and their families.
The project is set to be completed in January 2029. It is part of almost $700 million in total that has been budgeted to improve Montana’s prison system. The money for prison expansion is coming from the general fund, which includes appropriations from both the 2023 and 2025 Legislatures.
Construction has been going on for about a year, said Matt McCullough, a contractor with Sletten Construction. The company helped build a correctional facility in Shelby and is active throughout the west, McCullough said, with contracts in Nevada and California as well.
On Wednesday, workers were on the job site at the facility, and McCullough said the masonry had been finished on one of the main facilities. DOC officials added some of those housed at Montana State Prison have contributed to constructing the facility, which has gone well.
The first of the three planned buildings had walls, the roof, and ductwork installed. Some prison cells — which are prefabricated elsewhere and trucked in — were already set up, some already with bunks and toilets installed.
The facility itself is cavernous and Scott Eychner, who runs rehabilitative services for DOC said that increased activity, classroom and office space in the buildings under construction will be a boon. Eychner also said the design of the facility — specifically where housing is in relation to activity areas — could help when the prison is understaffed and those incarcerated need to be moved around the facility.
It’s been a state priority to add more staff, which has increased after a 40% job vacancy rate in 2022.
Strauss also addressed water concerns at Montana State Prison, which became a front-and-center issue after a water pipe broke there last year. The Legislature had previously appropriated more than $20 million to fix the issue.
Strauss said they “learned a lot” and had a better idea of why the water system broke and how to mitigate any future problems with it. DOC has previously said they are installing “new, modern water infrastructure.”
Crews have replaced lines to water tanks, flow meters and mapped plans for water system replacement.