Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry on Wednesday unveiled a $345,000 plan to temporarily disband the county’s juvenile detention facility to deal with an shortage of space for felony adult offenders that has reached crisis level.

The Flathead County commissioners were expected to take formal action on Monday because it was unknown at Wednesday’s meeting whether the commissioners need to formally pass a resolution or the change could be delegated to Curry without a vote.

Youths who need to be incarcerated would be housed in the Missoula County Detention Center.

“I’ll do it, but I am very reluctant to do it,” Flathead County Commissioner Phil Mitchell said. “This is one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make as a county commissioner.”

Mitchell said his pastor volunteers as the juvenile detention facility and he would like to keep the troubled youth in Flathead County, but there truly is a jail crisis driving the temporary closure of the juvenile facility.

“I don’t know of any other options,” Mitchell said.

Curry stressed that he did not want to do away with juvenile detention, but this is the only viable option he’s found. He pointed out that jailed youths would have access to the same of services in Missoula.

“I don’t have a plan B,” Curry said.

The adult detention facility was built in 1985 with 66 original beds, Curry said. Through a process of double bunking, the number of hard beds in the facility is now at 87, with an additional 20 plastic beds used to bring the jail’s official capacity to 107.

In recent weeks, the jail population has reached 117 inmates at times.

“We have taken all the physical space that is possible for beds,” Curry said.

There are jails in Columbia Falls and Whitefish, but those facilities are not certified to house inmates for long periods because they lack appropriate recreational facilities, Curry said. A plan to purchase the old Walmart building in Evergreen and turn it into a jail fell through earlier this month when the county was outbid.

The Sheriff’s Office, prosecutors and judges have been working together to release low-risk offenders before weekends when jail traffic goes up, but that strategy is hampered by the fact that typically at least 100 of the inmates in jail have been there at least once and are likely to re-offend. Many times folks released on Friday are back in jail shortly thereafter, Curry said.

“In one instance a gentleman stole three cars over the weekend and he was in for theft originally,” Curry said.

The proposal is essentially a temporary measure that will temporarily alleviate overcrowding but will not provide a long-term solution, Curry said. It will not create space for non-felony offenders, who usually make up less than 10 percent of the jail population.

Curry said his office has explored other options, but there is nothing immediately available to help with the adult overflow.

“Nobody has space,” Curry said. “Nobody will take them. I can’t farm the adults out.”

Outsourcing the juveniles to Missoula will cost an estimated $200 per day for the first two youths in custody and an additional $175 per inmate per day thereafter.

Curry was able to get a discounted rate from the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office, but the plan might have hit a snag because the Missoula County commissioners have not yet approved the rate. The average daily juvenile jail population in Flathead County is four inmates, though Curry said he hopes that number can be cut in half by taking youths to shelters or having them electronically monitored.

Closing the juvenile facility will result in the loss of one part-time teaching position and some grant money that the facility receives for housing youths. Otherwise, the transition should move smoothly, Curry said.

Curry estimated it could cost $345,000 a year to house four juveniles in Missoula, although the actual cost could vary substantially based on how many juveniles end up going to Missoula.

County Administrator Mike Pence said the money likely would come from sheriff’s budget reserves or county reserve funds. Curry asked that the commissioners approve the plan as soon as possible so immediate minor construction needed to repurpose the juvenile facility could begin.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or [email protected].