BILLINGS — Construction crews broke ground Monday morning at the Yellowstone County Detention Facility on a new $6 million expansion project.
The project will add nearly 9,000 square feet onto the western side of the facility, dedicated to short-term holds and nonviolent criminals.
In the past, because of a lack of space in the jail, law enforcement has been forced to let some of these individuals go with a notice to appear in court.
It's a dilemma that Yellowstone County Sheriff Mike Linder and his team has been battling for years.
"Right now, we have a lot of people that probably need to go to jail because of the overcrowding, and we just simply can't do it," Linder said Monday. "These people aren't being held accountable just simply because there's no room for them in the jail, and they don't show up in court."
Yellowstone County Commissioner John Ostlund said he hopes this provides relief for all law enforcement agencies in the area.
"This will be such a huge deal for law enforcement," Ostlund said. "Instead of giving a notice to appear to someone who really needs to be incarcerated, they can pick them up, bring them down here. We'll put them in jail. They're going to see a judge. We can put accountability back in the picture."
Project Manager Brooke Logan of Sletten Construction said the add on will be two floors and bring flexibility to law enforcement.
"There will be individual cells on each level, open day rooms, emergency access," Logan said. "It will be connected to the ongoing facility."
Both Yellowstone County and the City of Billings are pitching in to complete the project, splitting the $6 million project evenly.
"This is what the public asked for," Ostlund said. "This is what we need. We wouldn't be here without our partners in the city."
In the past, it's been a challenge to get both agencies involved with an expansion project because the jail is owned by the county, which hasn't had the money to pull something like this off on its own.
In this case, both city and county officials said it was too much of a need to ignore.
"This is something we've needed to do for a long time," Linder said. "Whether it be adding this on and getting the courts involved or whether it's a major expansion either way, it's needed."
Logan said construction begins Monday as her team looks to take advantage of the nice weather. They plan to have the building up and running by the end of summer 2025 — knowing just how needed this is for the community.
"We're going to work through the winter," Logan said. "We'd like to have this operational as soon as possible. I think this is something that this community has been needing and asking for," Logan said.
