Two Montana cities lobby to host new women’s prison

Two Montana communities have expressed substantial interest in becoming the location for a new state women’s prison facility following a Department of Corrections request for information. Two more responded to the state’s request for information but cited resident concerns and opposition in their submission.

The Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Commission and City of Deer Lodge expressed strong desire for consideration, as did Big Horn County and Hardin, which said their southeastern location was the “most appropriate and advantageous.”

Butte-Silver Bow and Jefferson also submitted responses, but acknowledged residents expressed serious concerns and opposition to becoming a new prison site. 

Montana’s state-run correctional facilities have been faced with overcrowding for years, and the issue drew a lot of discussion in Helena during the Legislature.

During the 2025 session, lawmakers appropriated $436 million to address capacity issues throughout the state.

One funding allocation came from House Bill 833, sponsored by Rep. John Fitzpatrick, R-Anaconda, which set aside roughly $250 million to construct a new women’s prison or renovate an existing facility.

In an interview with the Daily Montanan during the session, Fitzpatrick said the women’s prison in Billings houses 240 people, Montana needs beds for at least 400.

“Unlike the men, we have no place to put them out of state,” he told the Daily Montanan. The state has contracts to send male inmates to privately run prisons in other states. 

Fitzpatrick’s bill includes a study the Department of Corrections will lead to determine a new location for a women’s prison — not excluding Billings or Deer Lodge, where the men’s prison is located, but not favoring them either, he said.

“It could be anywhere,” Fitzpatrick said.

The Department of Corrections sent out a Request for Information on Sept. 10 seeking feedback from local communities interested in being an option to host the prison.

Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Commission voted unanimously on a resolution indicating its support for locating a new prison in the county and submitted an 18-page packet detailing the county’s history with running state-controlled institutions. 

“We believe that the long-term success of the new prison rests with siting it in a location where it will be welcomed rather than another community where the state simply owns land but where the local population may be hostile, skeptical, or indifferent to having the facility in its midst,” Commission Chairman Mike Beausoleil wrote. 

The Montana State Prison has been located in Deer Lodge since 1871 when it was founded as a territorial prison, and the Montana State Hospital at Warm Springs began as a territorial facility in 1877. 

The Montana Tuberculosis Sanitarium at Galen opened in 1913 and was also operated to house developmentally disabled residents and as a site for a state alcohol treatment program, according to the county’s documents. 

“State institutions have been a part of Deer Lodge County’s economy and culture for over 150 years,” the proposal states. “… While Anaconda is famous for its once massive copper smelter and owes its existence to the birth of copper mining in Butte, the state institutions were a vital source of income within the county. It is not hyperbole to say that after the smelter closed in 1981, it was employment at the state hospital and, especially, the state prison which kept Anaconda alive.”

Deer Lodge County offered two potential locations for a new women’s prison, one adjacent to the Montana State Hospital Forensic Unit at Galen, and two sites adjacent to the Montana State Hospital at Warm Springs. 

At a public hearing held by the county commission, only six individuals opposed the plan, according to county staff. 

Big Horn County and the city of Hardin touted community experience with similar facilities and a readiness to begin building immediately.

“Hardin brings relevant experience through past correctional facility operations, which have helped develop leadership familiar with the demands of such institutions,” Hardin Mayor Joe Purcell wrote in a letter of support. “Importantly, this proposal has strong community and political support. We view this as a valuable partnership — one that meets a critical public safety need for the state while offering lasting economic benefits for our region.”

Big Horn County’s proposal emphasizes proactive actions already taken by the county and Hardin to expedite the building of a women’s prison. 

The proposal identifies over 1,000 acres of county-owned land “that is ready for correctional use,” with an estimated $15 million-$20 million in infrastructure savings compared to using a barren site, and the possibility of donating the land to the state to jumpstart the project. 

The county also cited an elevated unemployment rate of 5.8% as a “ready and available labor pool” to mitigate a risk of staffing shortages at the new facility, as well as the proximity to two tribal colleges, which could aid in developing and implementing vocational training for inmates and staff. 

Big Horn’s proposal is also backed by the Northern Cheyenne Tribe and the Crow Tribe of Indians.  

Both Butte-Silver Bow and Jefferson County’s responses sent to DOC highlighted community opposition to a new prison facility. 

In a letter, Butte-Silver Bow Chief Executive J.P. Gallagher wrote that the prison “is not perceived as a benefit to community development,” citing workforce concerns, and a lack of housing and infrastructure capacity. A piece of state-owned land in the county that could be considered is smaller than the 40 acres DOC set as a minimum. 

He wrote that the city-county commission had sent a letter seeking more information from DOC, but did not receive a response.

The community of Boulder, meanwhile, saw “almost all” attendees at a public meeting oppose the idea of a new corrections facility in the town, though “comments from constituents aside from the meeting have mostly been supportive.”

Boulder is already home to the former Riverside Special Needs Unit, where in May, DOC relocated 50 female inmates from the Montana Women’s Prison in Billings to reduce overcrowding. 

The state owns a 122-acre parcel that includes the Riverside facility. There are additional similar facilities nearby, including the Elkhorn Treatment Center and a campus of the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch. 

The letter sent from the county cited concerns with local workforce staffing, Boulder’s volunteer-run emergency service programs, and the available medical and behavioral health services locally. 

Neither the county commission nor city officials provided letters of support for a Boulder-based correctional facility. 

According to the Department of Corrections secure facility dashboard, there are currently 246 inmates at the Montana Women’s Prison, which has an operational capacity of 250, in addition to the 50 inmates at the Riverside Facility in Boulder.  

Meanwhile, the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge, has 1,514 inmates with a capacity of 1,551. A total of 1,500 inmates are currently housed in contracted facilities, including one in Shelby and one in Dawson County.