With a state deadline looming next week, residents and officials are weighing interest in and gauging the potential impact of a new Boulder prison.
The Montana Department of Corrections has set an Oct. 1 deadline for its request for information (RFI) to identify the best site for a new women’s correctional facility with around 100 beds. “This RFI will inform our efforts by allowing Montana communities to let us know if they are interested in partnering with us on this project,” DOC Director Brian Gootkin said in a statement.
With the state’s female prisoners tripling since 2001, to 450 as of last year, the need to expand capacity beyond its 240-bed facility in Billings is clear. Boulder’s Riverside correctional facility received 50 women inmates from Billings earlier this year and has begun preparatory work on an upgrade to double its population to 100.
