BILLINGS - As the Yellowstone County Detention Facility continues to deal with over-capacity and over-taxed workers, the county attorney is forming a committee aimed at directly overseeing the jail.
The 10-person committee will look at the entire justice system in the county and Billings, conducting a new study in hopes of locating all of the areas where improvements can be made.
County Attorney Scott Twito, R-Yellowstone County, put together a subcommittee to look at the reasons for the crowded jail.
The group will look at all different aspects and then relay that information to the commissioners.
"The commissioners wanted an independent party to run the meeting, so it didn't look like we were trying to control whatever the outcome is," said Commissioner Mark Morse, R-Yellowstone County.
Morse says for transparency reasons, he will not be the chair.
The county's Criminal Justice Coordinating Council put together the subcommittee which includes people working in all aspects of the criminal justice system.
"I think I should be asking the guy who does the job day in and day out," Morse said. "What's the problem? What's the solution? You do this? You obviously know best if there's a better way to do it."
State Sen. Barry Usher, R-Billings, is one of those on the committee.
"We're going to look at everything from how do we relieve some of the pressure," Usher said. "Do we need a bigger jail? Do we need different processes in place?"
He said there are some cases that can be handled before anyone needs to go to jail.
"That's called deflection and diversion," Usher said. "Deflection is before someone's arrested. Diversion is between arrest and conviction. And there are some programs that we've looked at the state level. We've looked at it with the county attorneys. We've tried to implement some of those."
Usher says an example of that is the legislature putting aside funding for mental health.
Meanwhile, Councilmember Jennifer Owen is also part of the committee.
In April the city asked the county to work together on a jail needs assessment. Owen says this committee is different and focusing more systematically.
She was at the City Council meeting on Monday but texted: "I'm really looking forward to having all the stakeholders in one room to tackle this issue. We need to look at the whole system and act with urgency."
Morse said he's hoping commissioners receive the report in three to six months.
"We think it's important that it's data-driven," Morse said. "So there's the report. It's available for anybody to look at and come to their own conclusion."
Twito said the working group includes:
- Mark Morse, Commissioner, Yellowstone County Commission
- Jennifer Owen, Councilperson, Billings City Council
- Collette Davies, District Judge, 13th Judicial District
- David Carter, Justice of the Peace, Yellowstone County Justice Court
- Barry Usher, Senator, Montana State Legislature
- Katie Weston, Deputy Chief, Billings Region, Department of Corrections
- Brittania Park, Court Administrator, Billings Municipal Court
- Mandi Gould, Regional Deputy Public Defender, Office of the Public Defender
- Robert Lester, Detention Facility Commander, Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office
- Melissa Williams, Chief Civil Attorney, Yellowstone County Attorney’s Office
