Prison Issues Board
Statement of Purpose
The Prison Issues Board was originally formed as a temporary task force by Director Rick Day in 1999. At that time Montana had only one facility for male inmates (Montana State Prison) and one facility for females (Montana Women’s Prison). The state had more inmates than it had room for them in the state’s two facilities. The state had, therefore, placed inmates in various facilities in other states. At the same time, the state entered into agreements with three counties (Missoula, Dawson, and Cascade) for regional prisons and with a private corporation (Corrections Corporation of America) for a private prison. The State of Montana was in the process of bringing these prisons into the Montana Department of Corrections’ system. The department also had more female inmates than it had room for at the Montana Women’s Prison and had to place some females out of state. The department moved excess females to the private prison for a period of time until it ultimately moved them to the Montana Women’s Prison. Director Day saw the need to bring the administrators of these new facilities together with MDOC administrators to discuss and resolve problems as they arose. The creation of the Prison Issues Board was deemed critical in bringing this group of prison administrators together to work through issues to make the expanded prison system more cohesive and to enact standard policies to govern all facilities.
When Director Day established the task force he determined that the Contract Placement Bureau Chief would sit as the chairman of the task force and the Bureau Chief’s staff would provide logistical support to it. Each prison administrator agreed to attend or send a designee to quarterly meetings. The Director and each administrator would have a vote on major issues and policies and the chairman would break tie votes. The Director reserved the right to veto any vote if needed. The Department of Corrections would provide legal, information technology, medical, policy and other support as requested by the group.
The group was formed and met quarterly to work on policies and problems related to the adult secure care system – both males and females – for department and contracted secure facilities. The task was for each facility in the system to adopt consistent policies and approaches to the extent possible. The task force has continued its work over the last ten years as each Director overseeing the Department has appreciated the need for the task force and the work the group has achieved. Director Slaughter determined that this group’s work was so important and so critical to the department’s mission that he directed that it be changed from a task force to a permanent board. The department’s current Director, Mike Ferriter, has affirmed the group’s value and significance and continued the prison issues board.
There have been a few changes over time in representation on the task force/board; the department does not operate the Missoula facility as a prison, but as a community corrections program, so Missoula no longer is a member of the Prison Issues Board.
The board in its quarterly meetings has reviewed and discussed many issues such as Inmate Welfare Funds, security threat groups and facility activities. Each meeting now also includes a roundtable discussion session where the various facilities provide a quick overview of events or issues with which they deal. This provides the board members the opportunity to further discuss new or ongoing issues that impact the inmate population, staff and overall public safety.
The board continues today as a meaningful forum to discuss and, resolve issues, adjust, change or create policies and communicate with other wardens and facility administrators. The world of corrections changes constantly and the board assists the leaders of Montana’s secure care adult facilities deal with it in a uniform constructive way. as needed to the ever changing world of corrections, specific to secure care.
Legal counsel determined in 2009 that the board’s meetings were public meetings and should be open to the public. The board agenda and meeting minutes will be published on the department’s web site. The meeting times and places will also be announced through the web site and a public comment period will be included at each meeting.
