Lawsuit: Ravalli County charging ‘outrageous’ fees for supervision
Keila Szpaller
(Daily Montanan) After Heidi Hutchison was arrested for driving under the influence, the single mom and deli manager had to pay $593 a month in pretrial supervision fees in Ravalli County — nearly double her rent.
To make the pretrial payments, the Hamilton woman and her two boys who live at home skipped bowling and their Sunday morning breakfasts at a cafe, she said.
Hutchison turned off the internet, and as a result, she said her oldest son at home, 16, fell behind in school because he couldn’t do his reading homework. (A third boy is an adult and lives on his own.)
While she paid her fees and waited for her case to conclude, she said, her dad helped her financially, her landlord was understanding, and a friend from work helped feed her children when she ran out of food stamps.
“If my landlord wasn’t so lenient with me, I would have been out on the street with my boys,” Hutchison said.
Hutchison said she made it a priority to pay those fees for alcohol monitoring and supervision because she believed she would go to jail otherwise, and that wasn’t an option for her family.
“I couldn’t go to jail,” Hutchison said. “I had two kids to raise, and I had a job I had to keep.”
When the results of her blood alcohol test came back three months later, it showed 0.0, and the charges were dismissed, Hutchison said.
But she said she was still out $1,000, with no option for a refund, in a case where she was treated like she was guilty.
“I was innocent, and I was proven innocent. And nothing was returned,” Hutchison said.
Hutchison testified in U.S. District Court of Montana on Tuesday, the second day of the jury trial in Leonard et al vs. Ravalli County.
In the class action case, plaintiffs allege a pretrial supervision program run by the Sheriff’s Office in Ravalli County is charging “outrageous” fees to people least able to pay them, and it is doing so without due process.
People are charged those fees before being found guilty, on an ongoing basis, for an unknown duration, with no ability to appeal, according to witnesses.
But Ravalli County Sheriff Stephen Holton said the program, in place since 2018, had support from judges and public defenders when it started, and it was meant to fix problems with the justice system, such as jail crowding.
Holton, with the Sheriff’s Office since 1999 and in his role for nine years, said private companies that had been doing supervision before the program might not have known violations were occurring, or might not have reported them to the court, a problematic scenario.
For example, in a domestic violence case, a defendant commonly would be ordered to stay away from a residence, and the offender would wear a GPS bracelet, he said. But the person’s whereabouts might not ever be reported if they were staying at that residence, Holton said.
Holton said the pretrial supervision program has benefits for the defendants as well because it allows them to keep a job and get proper medical care for any conditions that can’t be treated in jail.
Holton also said the Sheriff’s Office didn’t have the budget to take on the program — “not even close” — nor does it today. When he received a green light to run it, he said, Ravalli County Commissioners loaned him $97,000 out of a reserve fund.
Every single year the program has been in existence, it’s seen net positive revenue, Holton confirmed, under questioning by Phil Telfeyan, with Equal Justice Under Law, representing the plaintiffs.
So the program has been able to pay back the loan, Holton said.
Money from the program goes into a couple of accounts, one an operating reserve and the other for capital purchases, but Holton said he doesn’t have a surplus he can use to reduce fees.
“I wish that was the case,” Holton said.
For the first time, he said, the capital account is fully funded, and the operating reserve has about 27% of the fiscal year’s costs, with a goal of hitting 33%.
Holton declined to provide dollar amounts in those accounts to the Daily Montana at this point in the trial, but he said he would be free to provide additional information later.
On the witness stand, however, Holton agreed that the program netted $67,000 one year, and he said the revenue has generally been building, minus some purchases for computers and other pretrial program equipment.
But witnesses who were part of the program said it operates outside court oversight, and they weren’t free to leave jail, even after they posted bond, until they signed a supervision contract.
Rather, they said, officers escorted them, while still handcuffed, to an office where they had to enroll in the program and agree to pay fees; they said the court imposed the conditions of release, but it didn’t set the fees.
Witnesses said they were led to believe they would stay in jail if they couldn’t pay. If they raised concerns about affordability in the midst of the program, they said, they also were threatened with jail, even “several times.”
Michael Theis, a witness from Victor, said he was shocked at the costs, and when he called about it, a program officer told him to borrow money or get another job. Theis had worked at a couple of tire shops.
Theis had been arrested for shooting a gun at the ground in city limits, he said, and law enforcement found cocaine residue in his car, which led to other charges.
On behalf of Ravalli County, lawyer Mitchell Young, with the County Litigation Group, grilled Theis about the cocaine a couple of times. The second time, Judge Dana Christensen interjected.
“Enough about the cocaine, Mr. Young. Let’s move on,” Christensen said.
At other times on Tuesday, the trial unfolded with repeated questions and numerous objections.
After the afternoon break, Christensen told all the lawyers he was going to let them try the case, but he encouraged them to evaluate their questions and objections based on whether they would advance arguments with the jury.
On the stand, Theis said he eventually agreed to a plea deal; the pretrial program cost him nearly $600 a month, and being guilty and on probation cost him $21 a month.
“It was cheaper,” Theis said.
Holton, though, said he tries to work out a payment plan with defendants, although he acknowledged some people have been kept in jail because they couldn’t pay the fees, even after they’ve made bail.
Holton also said it would be a violation of the court’s order if he released someone without the equipment ordered – devices are to be installed prior to release, he said.
Several witnesses in the program acknowledged that although they feared being thrown in jail for nonpayment, they didn’t experience that consequence, and in some cases, they received reduced fees or free tests.
But they weren’t clear about standards.
“Sometimes, they would let me test, and sometimes, they wouldn’t,” Theis said. “… It was really weird.”
Holton said people on Social Security have a reduced price, but he also said the program doesn’t offer waivers or reductions for indigents, for people who are homeless, or for those receiving food assistance.
In the questions asked, lawyers representing Ravalli County showed the witnesses for the plaintiffs had had other run-ins with the law; they’d been arrested other times, such as for multiple DUIs, one served 35 years in prison for a violent crime, and others had received positive drug test results.
Richard Churchill, arrested for possession of dangerous drugs, was confused to hear he would have to pay pretrial fees, partly because he thought he was considered innocent until proven guilty, he said.
Churchill testified that he borrowed money, pawned his phone, and cut into his gas and food budget to pay the fees. He’s seeking $825 in the lawsuit.
Eventually, Churchill ended up homeless, partly due to the fees, he said, and he took a plea deal to end an experience he described as “harrowing” and “depressing.”
On cross examination, Churchill admitted the fees weren’t the only direct reason he ended up homeless; he said another reason was tension with his friend, who owned the house where he lived, and another tenant around his ability to pay the rent.
“He considered me a liability, I suppose,” Churchill said of his friend.
After he testified, Churchill told the Daily Montanan he felt better living in his car in Missoula County than in a home in Corvallis. He said he at times felt harassed by law enforcement in Ravalli County, and he said he wanted to avoid any interaction with officers there.
Churchill said he won’t ever set foot in the county again, and he hopes the case results in a program that’s fair.
“It just seems like they’re preying upon a segment of society that really doesn’t have the resources to adequately defend themselves,” Churchill said to the Daily Montanan. “I just hope that it changes.”
The trial is expected to continue Wednesday.