Pubdate: Sun, 07 Aug 2005
Source: Great Falls Tribune (MT)
1/508070302/1002
Copyright: 2005 Great Falls Tribune
Contact: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/customerservice/contactus.html
Website: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2502
Author: Mike Dennison
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

STATE PRISON SYSTEM FULL, DIRECTOR SAYS

HELENA - The state prison system is full again, and private groups in Great 
Falls and Lewistown hope to provide a relief valve in the coming months.

State Corrections Director Bill Slaughter also has told Gov. Brian 
Schweitzer that Montana inmates may be sent to out-of-state prisons this 
fall, to relieve overcrowding that's backed up into county jails.

"We've had to put beds in some of the 'day rooms' at the prison, which is 
the last possible option you'd want to do," said Joe Williams, head of the 
Correction Department's Centralized Services Division. "There is just 
nothing left in the system."

The Great Falls Prerelease Center is proposing a 40-bed expansion, to help 
relieve pressure in the system, and Lewistown will bid on construction of a 
methamphetamine treatment center that could house up to 80 people.

"We're doing everything we can to facilitate providing that service," 
Fergus County Commissioner John Jensen said of the meth treatment center. 
"We'll certainly put our bid in and keep our fingers crossed."

Bids on the treatment center and construction of a separate 256-bed 
facility will be solicited in early October, Williams said.

Paul Cory, administrator of the Great Falls center at 1019 15th St. S., 
said it can begin the 40-bed expansion as soon as he has a contract from 
the state, which could be within 30 days.

"We're really looking at what we can do to help out on this overcrowding 
situation," Cory said.

The surge in prison inmates is caused primarily by convictions related to 
methamphetamine, an illegal, highly addictive drug whose users are 
committing nonviolent and violent crimes.

Montana's male prison population grew nearly 8 percent in the 12 months 
that ended June 30, and its female inmates jumped 18.5 percent. Both 
numbers are ahead of projections.

The State Prison at Deer Lodge held 1,500 inmates Friday, well over its 
usual capacity of about 1,400 prisoners. Regional prisons in Great Falls, 
Missoula and Glendive and the privately run Crossroads Correctional Center 
in Shelby are at maximum capacity.

Another 235 inmates are in county jails, awaiting spots in the state prison 
system.

Williams said the department is projecting inmate growth of 7 percent 
annually for men in the next two years and 26 percent for women, who often 
are targeted by meth dealers as potential customers.

The state plans to turn an old wing of the State Prison into a center that 
holds convicted felons who violate their parole or probation, but is having 
trouble hiring enough staffers to run it, Williams said.

Once the staff is hired, it will take only a few weeks to prepare the area, 
he said.

Williams said the department would prefer not to ship inmates out of state, 
because it's easier said than done. They must be screened to meet 
out-of-state prison requirements based on criteria such as prisoner 
classification and health, he said.

"You really have to scramble to find the ones that can make it," he said.

Officials in Lewistown have been working for many months with Community 
Correctional & Counseling Services, a Butte nonprofit group, to develop the 
meth treatment center.

The proposal calls for building the center near the Lewistown airport, on 
five acres owned by the Airport Board.

Jensen said the group will submit a bid as soon as the state is ready. 
Other communities and groups are expected to submit proposals, not only for 
the meth treatment center, but for other facilities that offer treatment of 
"special needs" inmates, such as the elderly or mentally ill.

Williams said the department is working on rules that govern the bidding 
process, and hopes to request bids Oct. 1.

The state hopes the new meth treatment center will have the same success as 
its "Watch" program for multiple drunken-driving offenders. The Watch 
program at Warm Springs has a success rate of 70 percent, Williams said.

"There is a clear indicator there that treatment does work," he said. "You 
just have to find the right model that works. We want to replicate that 
with meth."
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MAP posted-by: Beth