Grappling with crowded jail, Flathead County eyes new facility

The Flathead County Detention Center for more than a decade has seen its capacity “repeatedly pushed to the brink and beyond,” according to a needs assessment of the jail. 

As early as next year, the county could go before voters seeking funds to construct a new facility. 

Commissioners have held several meetings to discuss options. During a work session on Friday, all three commissioners agreed that the county needs to construct a new facility, and all three agreed they’d like to see the building include space for a new Sheriff’s Office. 

“We’re going to pay for this jail in one way or another — if not through tax dollars then we’re going to pay for it through increases in crime or the moral degradation of our community,” Commissioner Brad Abell said Friday. “You know, you’re going to pay for it through losing your chainsaw or your motorcycle.”

County Administrator Pete Melnick told commissioners that details surrounding the building would have to be hammered out within the first six months of 2024 to place an item before voters in November. Otherwise, the county would likely be looking at a vote in 2025. 

“We are working toward solving a county issue that has been around for 10 years or more,” Melnick said. “I’m delighted to hear that all three commissioners are open to the idea of bringing a detention facility here to the county. We have to do our due diligence, but that’s the objective for Flathead County for this upcoming year.”

The current detention facility has space for about 100 inmates, and a new facility would likely be designed to have roughly double the capacity. A forecasting study completed by county consultants indicates that the county will need 150 to 200 detention beds by 2040 to accommodate the projected jail population.   

To secure a location for the facility, the county in October entered into a buy-sell agreement to examine property south of Kalispell.

Slate Architecture and RS Security created a needs assessment and master plan for the potential facility list preliminary estimates for the project at between $115 and $134 million. The Sheriff's Office could add $23 million to that cost, according to county estimates.  

The county has roughly $17 million set aside for the jail facility at this point and expects to continue putting away funds into the savings account. Officials noted on Friday that construction would require going before voters to approve a bond and also likely an operations levy to fund staffing needs that would roughly double with the new facility because of increased inmate capacity. 

Commissioners seemed to be in step in wanting to make sure any package presented to voters would cover all costs. 

“It’s important to tell the public what the complete project is going to be,” Commissioner Pam Holmquist said. “It’s important that we do this in a manner that gets us what we need and that we do not have to go back in two years to ask for more money.” 

Early estimates on the bond levy show that if a $100 million bond were approved by voters that would translate to an annual increase in taxes of about $100 per year for a home valued at $300,000, and a home valued at $600,000 would pay about $200 more per year. 

If voters were to approve a bond of $135 million, then a home valued at $300,000 would see an increase of about $136 per year and a home valued at $600,000 would see an increase of almost $275. 

The sentiment in the community is that a new detention facility is needed, Holmquist said, but that may not be the case when taxpayers see the bill. 

“I think we’re very frugal, but it’s going to be expensive — this is probably going to be the biggest thing the county has ever done,” Holmquist said. 

THE COUNTY has long dealt with a growing jail population. The adult detention center was constructed in 1984 and has undergone multiple remodels. 

When the jail was constructed it was designed to house 70 inmates. Multiple remodels, and the addition of double-bunking, have increased bed counts over the years to 140 inmates.
The jail routinely holds 100 inmates every night, but that is kept to a limit due to the building configuration, poor sightlines and inadequate support space, according to the needs assessment. The facility no longer meets Montana Jail Standards or American Correctional Association standards. 

The needs assessment completed by the county’s consultants shows that expansion options for the current facility, which is about 78,000 square feet, would not be financially responsible due to aging building infrastructure, site limitations and staff inefficiencies. 

Sheriff Brian Heino said currently facilities have run out of space and a new facility is needed for community safety. 

“For 20-plus years we’ve talked about the Sheriff’s Office and the detention facility being at max capacity,” Heino said. “The longer we wait the more the cost is going to go up and we can’t go before the voters with this unless it will last for the next 20 years. We need to get back to the point of holding people accountable.” 

The county detention center in 2021 recorded 2,680 bookings and had an average daily jail population of 99. The year prior the jail had 2,600 bookings and saw an average daily jail population of 85. Jail bookings in 2005 were just over 2,000 and the average daily jail population was 97. 

The study notes that as with most local criminal justice systems across the country, Flathead County has adapted to keep people safe while exploring innovative ways to do essential work. This entailed reducing arrests and jail bookings, as well as expediting releases from jail resulting in a reduction of the jail’s average daily population from a high of 117 in 2017 to 85 in 2020. 

In 2021 the detention center population was made up of 80% of people charged with felony offenses. 

Heino said the county is experiencing a higher level of crime.
“It used to be that we’d have one homicide trial per year, and now we have three or four in a year,” he said. 

Regarding the proposed property, a closing date for the agreement on the 114-acre property the county is considering for the jail is set for February 2024. The property at 225 Snowline Lane is owned by Bob King. 

The county’s agreement for the property lists a purchase price of $3.9 million, but an appraisal of the property came back at $4 million which is likely what the county would end up paying. The county is still waiting on environmental and geotechnical reports on the property before making a decision. 

Features Editor Heidi Desch may be reached at 758-4421 or hdesch@dailyinterlake.com.