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Victims' Information
Important message to Victims
The Montana Department of Corrections (DOC) is committed to assisting crime victims whose offenders are under our supervision - in prison or community corrections placements such as prerelease centers, probation, parole, and drug/alcohol treatment programs.
This website explains why victims must register with DOC for notification if they want us to keep them informed about the offender's whereabouts and latest custody status. The registration process takes less than five minutes. Click to proceed directly to registration.
DOC is pleased to offer restorative justice (RJ) programs which (1) provide a voice for crime victims, (2) promote healing for all parties affected by the crime, and (3) hold offenders accountable with the goal of successful re-entry into society.
We collect about $2.5 million every year in court-ordered restitution on behalf of victims of felonies committed by adults.
Please take a minute to explore links to all of our services, and to other victim resources in Montana and elsewhere.
Victim Information Officers
The Department of Corrections has public and victim information officers at Montana Women's Prison in Billings (female inmates) and Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge, which oversees three regional prisons and a private prison that house male inmates. In addition, each facility or program under DOC has a staff person designated to assist victims. The victim programs manager oversees the VINE service and answers the department's toll-free victim information line at 888-223-6332. The victim program manager works in the Director's Office in Helena.
Victim Information and Notification
Victims in Montana have the right to receive, upon request, certain information about the offender. See 46-24-212, Montana Codes Annotated. If you register with us, we will contact you by phone, email, or letter to let you know the current location of the offender, important custody changes, upcoming parole hearings, transfers to other facilities, furloughs, discharge dates, releases to community corrections, escape, recapture, and the offender's death. To read all victim notification statutes in Montana, click: http://data.opi.mt.gov/bills/mca_toc/46_24_2.htm