The Flathead County Detention Center’s inmate population settled at 127 on Monday night, just one person shy of a previous record set in early May. 

Sheriff Chuck Curry said a temporary solution to the overcrowding might be at hand soon, and that a committee also will likely be appointed to look at longer-term viable solutions. 

“My concern is this weekend,” Curry said of the overcrowding crisis. “What are we going to do right now?” 

Curry plans to go before the county commissioners in the next couple of weeks to see if they will approve the expansion of the Flathead County Detention Center into the Flathead County Attorney’s Office, which is set to move into a new space soon. 

A cost estimate is still being churned out by an architectural firm, but Curry believes that space might be able to house approximately 30 additional people. The current jail was built in 1985 to house 63 prisoners, but the population in recent weeks has rarely dropped below 100 inmates. Jail staff use portable beds to make do, and earlier this year the juvenile jail was transformed to hold another dozen female inmates. Juveniles are now sent to Missoula or Great Falls for detention. 

The demand for jail space is high. Misdemeanor offenses almost never end up with a jail stay unless they involve drinking and driving or some act of physical violence. Most days the jail has 90 percent of its inmates jailed on felony charges. Curry routinely hears the refrain that he should just let out the low-level offenders, particularly marijuana offenders, in order to free up space, but that simply isn’t an option, he said. 

“There is not one person in our jail right now for possession of marijuana,” Curry said. “We don’t lock those people up. We don’t put those people in jail.” 

Some people might be jailed and charged with marijuana possession, Curry said, but there’s always a larger underlying felony matter. 

Curry said expansion into the County Attorney’s Office is not a long-term solution, but it could provide some relief that is cost-effective. 

“It would certainly help with some overcrowding,” Curry said.  

He recently went to a conference hosted by the National Institute of Corrections in Aurora, Colorado, along with Flathead County Commissioner Pamela Holmquist, County Administrator Mike Pence and Jail Commander Jenny Root. The National Institute of Corrections also sent representatives to Kalispell to inspect the jail and gather information for law enforcement, prosecutors, and defense attorneys on the ground. The institute eventually will release a report of findings to the sheriff. In Montana, jails are not monitored by any state agency, though there is a peer review system in place among sheriff’s offices around the state. 

Curry said most jails self-regulate themselves to meet standards for legal reasons. “If you don’t meet standards the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) or someone is going to sue,” Curry said. 

Holmquist said the convention in Colorado gave local officials much insight into what goes into planning a new jail. 

“I think it will be very helpful going into the future,” she said. “I think the biggest thing is that it is not like putting up an office building and moving in. This thing has to be completely ready and secure.” 

Holmquist is hopeful the expansion into the County Attorney’s Office might be viable. As she waits for the sheriff’s recommendation in the next few weeks, another long-term planning committee is in the works. 

The county intends to form a jail study committee or working group comprised of a mix of citizens and individuals who work in the criminal justice system. The panel will help identify a plan of attack for longer-term jail solutions. 

“Things will start happening soon,” Holmquist said. “I think we are gathering great information and I think by the time we are done it will be a great success.” 

Holmquist said she also has spoken with state legislators about possible legislation in the upcoming 2017 session to free up more state resources so inmates who are sentenced can get into state facilities in a timely manner. Currently, some women inmates have to wait months for a spot to open up in state correctional programming. They must wait in a county jail until they can be transferred to state facilities. 

“We also need to look at where we can sentence them,” Holmquist said. “If we can’t send them anywhere then we have to look at that, too.” 

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