Quick Facts
- The June 30, 2006, male prison population was 2,440 offenders and is expected to grow by about 6% per year. This includes Montana State Prison, regional prisons at Great Falls and Glendive, Crossroads Correctional Center at Shelby and county jails.
- The June 30, 2006, female prison population was 297 offenders and is expected to grow by 17% per year. This includes Montana Women’s Prison in Billings and county jails.
- The Department of Corrections supervises more than 12,000 offenders.
- About 77 percent of those offenders are managed outside of prison.
- More than 8,200 offenders were on probation, parole or the intensive supervision program as of Oct. 31, 2006
- Theft and possession of drugs are the two most common offenses for both men and women.
- About 43% of incarcerated males and 81% of incarcerated females were convicted of one or more non-violent offenses.
- Of the 1,548 male inmates that were conditionally released from various correctional programs from June 2002 to October 2006, 37% violated the rules of their conditional release. Of those, 1% committed new crimes.
- Of the 468 female inmates that were conditionally released from various correctional programs from June 2002 to October 2006, 27% have violated the rules of their conditional release. Of those, 2% were for new crimes.
- American Indians make up approximately 27% of the female prison population and 18% of the male prison population. Indians account for 6.5% of Montana’s overall population.
- 36% of the Montana’s inmate population is over 40. That percentage is increasing at a rate of 2-3% per year.
- The most recent recidivism rate is 47.7% for males and 44.6% for females; 48% of those return to a higher level of custody in the first year.
- The typical Montana probation and parole officer supervises 70 to 100 offenders.
- The cost of housing an inmate in Montana ranges from $60 to $92 per day.
- The cost of probation and parole supervision in Montana ranges from $4-$8 per day.
