The inmates’ offenses might warrant stockings full of coal instead of presents from Santa, but a touch of holiday cheer still manages to seep into the otherwise somber setting of the Flathead County Detention Center at Christmastime.

According to Detention Commander Jennifer Root, more than 100 inmates likely will be served potatoes, some ham and maybe turkey in their jail cells on Christmas Day. They might get an extra serving or two, and on Christmas Eve a very rare treat of milk and cookies will be handed out.

Root said it’s a tiny solace for those being detained during the holidays.

“It’s pretty much like any other day in jail,” Root said. “They are down and they miss their families. It’s not easy, but I think my staff does a great job keeping their spirits up.”

On Saturday and Sunday, families can attend visiting hours, but gift-giving is prohibited.

It is an environment that can take a toll on the inmates placed in it, even on a non-holiday.

“I’m not a jail person, nobody is, but I don’t get along ... I don’t do well with jail politics,” inmate Jamie Brandon, 34, told Flathead District Judge David Ortley at a bond hearing on Dec. 17. “I’m more of an introverted person.”

Brandon said he needed proper medication and an evaluation to treat anxiety and depression and that jail staffers were ill-equipped to find the right drug combination. It led to Brandon getting into conflicts with other inmates and he allegedly asked every day to be placed into solitary confinement. Brandon said he was only placed into solitary confinement twice during his most recent stay at the jail that began on Sept. 11.

“He is struggling mentally being in the jail,” Brandon’s attorney Emily Lamson told the judge.

Lamson asked that Brandon be released until his Jan. 28 sentencing. Brandon was convicted in November of being found in possession of dangerous drugs while awaiting sentencing for a felony burglary charge.

Brandon was identified as the driver of a crashed Subaru on July 20 in Whitefish. The car was reported stolen from Second Avenue East in Columbia Falls earlier that day.

The prosecution resisted Brandon’s release because he had committed a new felony while out on bond for the first conviction, but Brandon said the longer extended stay in the jail had helped motivate him to change his ways.

“I’ve had time to think soberly,” Brandon said. “It’s a waste of life being in here. I’ve learned from my mistakes. I have much better things to do than what I’ve been doing.”

Brandon was released, but it won’t be a Christmas and New Year’s where he can go out and have fun with friends. Brandon will be confined to house arrest, and a the end of January, he will have to report back to jail for what could be a two-year sentence with the Montana Department of Corrections.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.