How does one understand crime and incarceration in Montana? What is the crime rate in Montana? How does Montana’s criminal justice system work? This article aims to provide a concise view of Montana’s criminal justice system.

How many people are incarcerated in Montana? What are the biggest prisons in Montana? Answering these questions provides a quick view into the scope of Montana’s criminal justice system. According to the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Montana has the 35th highest incarceration rate in the nation, behind South Dakota but ahead of Nevada. Montana incarcerates about 362 people for every 100,000 living in the state. Montana’s incarceration rate is about the same as the overall U.S. incarceration rate of 358 people imprisoned per 100,000.¹

According to the National Institute of Corrections, Montana operates 37 jails in 56 counties.² The jail population as of 2019 was 2,520. Montana also operates five state prisons which hold about 4,723 prisoners. Montana’s Community Corrections System has 9,589 people under probation and 1,533 under parole. Montana’s Department of Corrections operates with a staff complement of 1,400 employees and an annual budget of $209,790,390. According to the Urban Institute, Montana’s Department of Corrections is the seventh costliest item on the state’s annual budget.³

Montana relies considerably on private prisons to incarcerate its offenders.³ In 2000, Montana contracted with private prisons to incarcerate 986 of the state’s prisoners. By 2019, that number had increased to 2,222, a 125% increase. The private prison responsible for incarcerating about 40% of the people in Montana is Crossroads Correctional Facility, near Shelby. That prison is run by CoreCivic, formerly Corrections Corporation of America, the largest private corrections company in the country.⁴

Image courtesy of cor.mt.gov

The Montana State Prison (MSP), located in the Deer Lodge valley, is the largest prison in Montana. It houses about 1,600 male inmates on a 68-acre compound.⁵

The Montana Board of Crime Control keeps detailed records of crimes in the state, publishing an annual report to tabulate current crime rates and compare them to previous years. In 2020, Montana recorded 3,819 aggravated assaults, 501 rapes, 275 robberies, and 50 murders. These figures reflect a 13.7% increase in violent crime over 2019 figures. The figures represent an almost 26.9% increase over 2016, with over half of the increase occurring in 2020.⁶

Though violent crime is rising in Montana, property crime is decreasing. Total property crimes dropped by almost 3% between 2019 and 2020, and 18% between 2016 and 2020. Drug-related crime is also down 13% between 2017 and 2020, as is driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol (down 15% between 2016 and 2020).

Perhaps one of the most telling indicators of the success of a state’s criminal justice program is its recidivism rate. According to Montana’s Department of Corrections, the state has a recidivism rate of about 36% to 38%, varying slightly from year to year. That means slightly more than one-third of Montana’s incarcerated individuals are not experiencing rehabilitation during their time in prison, as they are re-offending and becoming re-incarcerated within three years of their release.⁷

Several rehabilitation programs are utilized in Montana to help offenders become responsible, productive citizens. Some of these programs are interwoven within prisons; others are nonprofit organizations that work with recently-released inmates. But all of them have a similar mission statement. Quoting one, “We promote public safety and challenge offenders to become responsible, productive citizens through firm, fair, consistent supervision, treatment, and education.”⁸

“Alternatives, Inc. offers Jail Alternatives programs in Yellowstone, Stillwater, and Carbon Counties. These services are designed to reduce jail overcrowding, teach responsibility, keep indigent offenders out of jail, and save the taxpayer money.”

An area where Montana needs to expand its efforts is in alternatives to incarceration. Currently, Montana incarcerates more people per capita than instances of violent crimes per capita, meaning hundreds of Montana residents are going to prison for nonviolent crimes. One of Montana’s only resources for alternatives to incarceration is a nonprofit called Alternatives. According to their mission statement, “Alternatives, Inc. offers Jail Alternatives programs in Yellowstone, Stillwater, and Carbon Counties. These services are designed to reduce jail overcrowding, teach responsibility, keep indigent offenders out of jail, and save the taxpayer money.” Montana’s Department of Corrections must implement state-funded alternative programs, so nonviolent offenders can get help and experience reform without being exposed to the incarceration system.⁹

In addition to increasing options for alternatives to incarceration, Montana should also invest in educational programs inside prisons in Montana and rehabilitation programs inside prisons in Montana. Only by improving the lives of offenders and helping them get to the bottom of what caused them to commit a crime in the first place can Montana’s criminal justice system reduce recidivism and increase public safety.