The Montana Department of Corrections intends to relocate women currently incarcerated at Boulder’s Riverside prison, which holds about 50 of the state’s 370 female prisoners, to Pine Hills Correctional Facility in Miles City, according to agency spokesperson Carolynn Stocker.
A press release shared by Stocker Thursday announced that the agency planned “to explore options for the use of the 144-bed Pine Hills Correctional Facility in Miles City to potentially house adult females.” Later, in response to questions about the press release from Montana Free Press, Stocker clarified that it is the “intent of the department” to move female inmates from Riverside to Pine Hills.
About 70 women are serving prison time in county jails because there is not enough space for them in a long-term facility. Stocker said the agency will reconfigure Pine Hills as part of its plan to increase the number of beds statewide from 300 to 500. The department did not provide a timeline for those changes.
The department didn’t specify the cost of the renovation in the press release or in response to MTFP questions, but said it will draw funds from House Bill 833, a $250 million allocation earmarked by the 2025 Legislature for increasing the state’s correctional capacity.
“Given the historic investment secured by Governor Gianforte and the Montana Legislature, we will be able to leverage our existing infrastructure to more effectively serve those in our care,” Corrections Director Eric Strauss wrote in the press release.
About 250 women, the majority of the state’s female prisoners, are incarcerated at Montana Women’s Prison in Billings, according to a department dashboard. The agency is not planning to expand the state women’s prison.
The roughly 35 youth offenders currently incarcerated at Pine Hills in Miles City will be transferred to Riverside in Boulder, switching places with the female inmates.
The department has not established a timeline for transferring prisoners, according to Stocker.
The department has ruled out building a new facility in Butte, Boulder or Hardin, which it signaled last year could be a possible use of the HB 833 funds.
Montana is also struggling to house its incarcerated male population. About 600 of the state’s 3,000 incarcerated men are serving time at Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Tutwiler, Mississippi. Roughly another 20 are serving time in in-state county jails.
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