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.
Like the planned new prison, that upgrade is being funded by the $246 million linked to House Bill 833, passed in April. Around that time, Gootkin said the DOC was considering sites in Butte, Anaconda-Deer Lodge, Yellowstone County and Boulder. But the search has always been broader.
“The scope has never been narrowed to just those few,” DOC Communications Director Carolynn Stocker told The Monitor. “The department’s effort to identify potential locations for this facility has been, and continues to be, open to any and all communities.”
Boulder may have a leg up due to its expanding Riverside facility and the fact that the DOC owns nearly 850 acres across five Boulder parcels, mostly on the former Montana Developmental Center campus south of the Boulder River. County Commissioner Cory Kirsch views this so-called South Campus, which is just beyond the city boundary and, thus, under the county’s jurisdiction, as the likeliest Boulder-area site for a new prison, as the DOC would not need to purchase land or install much infrastructure.
Also, if the DOC does end up choosing a South Campus site for its new women’s prison, Kirsch would expect Boulder to seek to annex that site to ensure access to City services and utilities.No surprise, then, that locals have begun to consider the benefits and potential risks.
Kirsch views the number of new, well-paid jobs – as many as 100, according to Gootkin – as the main benefit. He envisions the new prison boosting local businesses, like the MDC did before shuttering in 2017. “Although this new DOC facility would not offer the same number of residents or employees,” he said, “it would help replace a portion of what we lost when MDC shut down.”
The City and County are examining the new prison’s water and sewage needs, which seem to be manageable, as well as concerns about the nearby Boulder River. Kirsch saw a few other potential issues, such as increased local traffic, the availability of adequate housing and trained workers, and the demand on emergency services. “Although these concerns are formidable, I don’t think any of them are insurmountable,” he said.
Given that the fairgrounds neighbor the South Campus, the Jefferson County Fair Board also has some questions and potential concerns. At its Sept. 24 meeting, the fair board plans to discuss the proposed prison and consider writing a letter to the DOC detailing their concerns.
The County Commission is hosting an event on Sept. 29, at 7:30 p.m. at Volunteer Hall on the fairgrounds, for public input on the possibility of a new women’s prison in Boulder.
The DOC plans to review submissions following its Oct. 1 deadline, and as of Tuesday, had no timeline for choosing a site for its new women’s prison. Regarding the size of the new facility, Stocker told The Monitor that the department hoped to reach a total women’s prisoner capacity of 400 to 450, including the existing Billings and Riverside facilities.
