Kalispell pre-release site rejected

Survey reveals heavy opposition

A new site must be found for a 40-bed pre-release center in the Kalispell area after a survey of nearby property owners showed overwhelming opposition to the proposed location on Kalispell's south side.

The survey, conducted by Montana State University-Billings, found that 74 percent of respondents opposed placing the facility in the old Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services building at 2282 U.S. 93 South.

"It's unfortunate that the public rejected the proposed site, but we respect their decision," said Kelly Speer, chief of the Montana Department of Corrections' Facilities Program Bureau. "The department remains committed to developing a pre-release center in Kalispell to serve the only major population center in the state without such a program."

According to state rules, the approval of property owners within a half mile of the proposed location was the last hurdle to be cleared before construction and renovation of the old Department of Public Health and Human Services building could begin.

The Kalispell City Council, in proceedings separate from the Department of Corrections, had approved the site last month. Despite continued opposition from adjacent business owners, council members passed an ordinance rezoning the 1.78-acre site from general business to public use and approved a conditional-use permit for the facility's operation.

"It is clear to me that the process has worked well, and I hope that all the people involved, for and against, have recognized that," said Bonnie Olson, chairwoman of a local 12-member working committee.

The committee, appointed jointly by the city and county in January 2008, strongly supports a Kalispell pre-release center and had voiced approval of the proposed location.

It is unclear what step authorities will take next, but officials have been clear the debate is now more about siting the facility than whether a pre-release center should be built.

A previous survey - conducted in mid-2008, also by MSU-Billings - polled residents both inside Kalispell and within a 10-mile radius of the Kalispell city limits and found support to bring a pre-release center to the area.

And while officials most likely will not recommission that survey, which determined that residents supported the concept of a local pre-release center, Speer could not rule it out.

"We will not abandon the project or say we're giving up," said Speer, who expects to meet with the local working committee in the coming weeks. "We're just not sure where to get back into the process."

Speer said she expects the department will work with bid-winner Community, Counseling and Correctional Services to find alternative sites before re-opening bidding on the project.

State rules require bids for pre-release centers to be tied to a specific site, meaning Community, Counseling and Correctional Services' costs could change with a new location.

Sites proposed in other bids rejected by the department all are in south Kalispell near U.S. 93 and within about a mile of each other. Several bidders considered the Department of Public Health and Human Services building, others proposed building a new facility.

Community, Counseling and Correctional Services - a Butte-based nonprofit that operates 12 detention or treatment facilities in three states - was prepared to spend $3 million to renovate the 12,750-square-foot building.

Speer said the Department of Corrections wished to avoid dragging out the siting process for another 18 months.

"I think part of the driving factor is that Flathead County and surrounding counties are the fourth largest contributor of offenders to the criminal justice system," she said.

Flathead County has more than 1,300 people in the state corrections system and is the only large county in Montana without a pre-release center. Lake and Lincoln counties contribute about another 650 offenders.

Because there is no pre-release center here, about 80 offenders from this region are in other centers across the state.

In the past seven years, 900 offenders from Flathead County have spent time in pre-release centers at Missoula, Bozeman, Butte, Billings, Helena and Great Falls. Half of those offenders moved back to Flathead County after their release.

Pre-release centers hold inmates nearing the end of their prison sentences and help them readjust gradually into society. Residents, whose average stay is six months, receive treatment, counseling, job training and placement services. Programs include anger management, batterers counseling, substance-abuse counseling, life-skills courses such as GED preparation, and cognitive restructuring counseling.

The Legislature has appropriated $1.9 million to fund a Kalispell pre-release center for its first year.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com