The Montana Department of Corrections is eyeing a property in Kalispell as the future location of a 90-bed prerelease facility.  

The center would be located on East Oregon Street at the former Greenwood Village Inn & Suites hotel.  

The Montana Legislature last year set aside $7.1 million in funding for a prerelease center in Kalispell.  

Brian Gootkin, Department of Corrections director, said prerelease centers are staffed 24 hours a day, seven days per week and require residents to follow rules that support accountability and community safety.  

“We’re fortunate to have the support of local law enforcement and civic leaders for this effort because it will fill a critical gap in providing reentry support for citizens returning to this area of the state,” he said in a release. “Through this facility, individuals leaving prison, or living at the prerelease as an alternative to incarceration, will have the opportunity to stay connected with their families, hold jobs allowing them to be productive members of the community and set a foundation for their future success.” 

Prerelease centers are designed to assist offenders with their transition from a secure facility back into the community and provide an alternative to incarceration. The state has 10 such facilities in Montana.  

Upcoming meetings are planned regarding the proposal.  

A project overview is being hosted by WGM Group on Thursday, Sept. 5 at 6 p.m. The Department of Corrections is holding a public hearing on the facility on Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. Both meetings take place at the Hampton Inn, 1140 U.S. 2 W in Kalispell.  

The state has applied with Flathead County for a conditional use permit to operate the center. The property is zoned residential, which conditionally allows for a community residential facility.  

The county Board of Adjustment is set to vote on the permit at its Oct. 1 meeting.  

The state has entered a buy-sell agreement for the almost 3-acre property owned by White Chip, LLC, contingent on approval of the center, according to an application with the county Planning Department. The 47-room hotel would be repurposed to be used as the center, but the adjacent RV park would remain.  

While in the prerelease center, residents live at the facility but travel out into the community according to an approved schedule, according to a letter as part of the application. Prerelease centers serve a valuable role in communities by providing a supervised setting and residents are expected to maintain a fully structured schedule, which includes employment, treatment and counseling, and educational courses or vocational training, according to the letter. 

“[Prerelease center] residents are held accountable for their actions, through monitoring of compliance with facility rules and treatment plans,” the letter notes. 

The residents will be able to use the areas around the existing building, but will be “restricted from venturing into the adjacent neighborhood and mobile home park,” according to the application. 

As of Tuesday afternoon, the Planning Department had received a handful of letters from residents saying that the location is not suitable for a prerelease center.  

The state contracts with nonprofit organizations to operate prerelease centers in Billings, Butte, Bozeman, Great Falls, Helena and Missoula. The Flathead region – comprised of Flathead, Lake, Lincoln and Sanders counties -- does not have a prerelease center.  

The state agency has determined a need for a prerelease center based on population information, showing that counties supporting existing centers are all in the top 10 in terms of population in Montana based on 2023 numbers. Flathead County sits at number four, Lake at number nine and Lincoln at number 10. 

In addition, the department reviewed sentencing information for offenders from July 1, 2023, through June 15, 2024, and found that 154 offenders were committed to the Department of Corrections for a full or partial sentence from the Flathead region. In June there were 136 offenders in prerelease centers from the Flathead region.  

Had there been a facility in the region, these offenders may have benefited from services provided at the center close to their hometown, the agency noted in a document outlining the need for a prerelease center in the region.  

The agency also stated that the region has appropriate mental health and chemical dependency services, adequate job opportunities and opportunities for basic education and postsecondary education.  

The state’s unemployment rate was 3.1% for May 2024 and Flathead County’s was 3.3% for the same period. A key component of a prerelease center program is the requirement for residents to work, so the center would potentially add 90 workers to the area, the agency noted.  

Heavy opposition arose to a proposed prerelease center on U.S. 93 South in Kalispell in 2009, ending the project. A survey at the time conducted by Montana State University-Billings found that 74% of respondents opposed the 40-bed facility, according to a previous Daily Inter Lake article.  

Deputy Editor Heidi Desch may be reached at 758-4421 or [email protected].