[{"_1":2,"_85":-5,"_86":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":-5,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":59,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":65,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":71,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6381119,"mediaKeyId","2129067-b952316122627f3051132e09132b4438","parentId",2129067,"title","Judicial candidates and sitting judges urge transparency, stronger investigations for Montana Judicial Standards Commission","audioSeconds",824,"startMs",824000,"endMs",-1,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2129067-b952316122627f3051132e09132b4438&start=824&end=0","thumbnailUrl","https://d352y6ypj4mjo3.cloudfront.net/AudioPlaceholder.png","articleUrl","/articles/6381119/Montana/Judicial-candidates-and-sitting-judges-urge-transparency-stronger-investigations-for-Montana-Judicial-Standards-Commission","mediaUrl","author","Montana Legislature","date","2025-01-17T00:00:00Z","article","Seven judges interviewed for seats on the Judicial Standards Commission told a legislative special select committee that the commission should be consistent, transparent and better resourced — with competent investigators and clear written explanations for complaint dispositions.

The committee, meeting to review applicants for the five‑member commission, heard recurring themes across candidates including the need for: (1) careful selection of neutral investigators, (2) clearer written findings when complaints are dismissed or sustained, (3) options for remedial training or mentoring, and (4) clearer boundaries about when campaign conduct can be the subject of a commission complaint.

Judge Ashley Harada, a district court judge in Yellowstone County who said she has personal experience with the disciplinary process, told the committee an investigator assigned to her case acted unprofessionally. “He threatened me. He told me that hell would rain down on me if I didn't do what he stated I should do,” Harada said, and added the investigator “handled it like he was the prosecutor as opposed to a neutral person.” Harada recommended the commission “utiliz[e] the most qualified, intelligent, unbiased, and competent investigators.”

Several applicants said the commission’s 2023–24 biennial report, which lists complaints and dispositions, increased transparency but left unanswered questions about why specific decisions were made. One candidate suggested creating a permanent staff attorney or law clerk to draft reasoned orders explaining dismissals or sanctions so judges and complainants understand the basis for outcomes.

Rehabilitation, mentoring and alternative dispositions

Candidates discussed nonpunitive alternatives for some complaints. Several judges recommended stronger ethics training, mentoring and targeted remedial plans for judges whose conduct reflected lapses rather than clear malfeasance. Judge Scott Eichner (note: Eichner appeared earlier as DOC staff) was not an applicant, but applicants described mentorship as one tool that would allow correction rather than immediate punitive action when appropriate.

Scope of jurisdiction and campaign conduct

Multiple applicants raised a procedural inconsistency in current rules: the canons of judicial conduct apply in campaign contexts, but the commission’s adopted rules — as interpreted by some applicants — may not give the commission jurisdiction to hear complaints against non‑judges who run for judicial office. Applicants warned this could create a loophole whereby attorneys who run, violate campaign rules, and lose would not be accountable under the commission rules in the same way sitting judges can be.

Oversight, confidentiality and interbranch trust

Some applicants suggested controlled additional oversight. One applicant proposed giving legislative leaders or their designees access to complaint files to provide interbranch oversight; another urged the Commission and the Supreme Court to restore public trust by producing fuller written explanations for decisions and by avoiding off‑record deliberations. Candidates repeatedly emphasized the need to protect due process for judges who are investigated while balancing the public’s right to understand how complaints are handled.

Why lawmakers are watching

Legislators on the special select committee said the topic is timely because the rules governing the Judicial Standards Commission and its reporting have been changed in the recent biennium and because multiple bills in this session would alter judicial selection and oversight. Committee members said they were assessing applicants to ensure the commission will be prepared to carry out its constitutional duties consistently and transparently.

Next steps

The special select committee will consider the interviews as it prepares a slate of nominees for appointment. Applicants asked the committee to consider resources for the commission—investigative capacity, legal drafting support and staff—to ensure the body can issue reasoned written findings while preserving appropriate confidentiality during investigations.","mediaType","Audio","parentTitle","House Judiciary 2025-01-17","oneSentenceSummary","Seven judges interviewed for seats on the Judicial Standards Commission told a legislative special select committee that the commission should be consistent, transparent and better resourced — with competent investigators and clear written explanations for complaint dispositions.","taxTitle","2025 Legislature MT, Montana","taxId",77694,"location","Montana","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":50,"_51":82,"_53":-5,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":83,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":84,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":71,"_72":73,"_74":73},6381124,"Legislative fiscal staff: Montana prison population, jail holds rising; costly capacity gap looms",3668,394000,4062000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2129067-b952316122627f3051132e09132b4438&start=394&end=4062","/articles/6381124/Montana/Legislative-fiscal-staff-Montana-prison-population-jail-holds-rising-costly-capacity-gap-looms","Legislative fiscal analysts and Department of Corrections officials told the House Judiciary Committee that Montana faces growing offender populations and expanding jail holds that are straining capacity and budgets, and that filling the gap will require large one‑time construction spending or increased reliance on cheaper contracted beds.

Nick Van Brown of the Legislative Fiscal Division introduced the legislative fiscal office’s MARA (Modernization and Risk Analysis) tools while Walker Hopkins, a corrections analyst with the Legislative Fiscal Division, outlined 20‑year offender projections and bed‑need scenarios. Hopkins said the office is using an exponential‑smoothing time series model weighted toward recent years to reflect the post‑COVID population rebound. “The purpose of MARA is really this forward‑looking idea, looking ahead 20 years,” Hopkins said.

The projections matter because the Department of Corrections’ budget and staffing scale with the number of people in secure custody and the severity of their offenses, Hopkins said. He told lawmakers the data now available stop at Q1 of fiscal 2024 and that more recent increases are likely to raise the forecasts.

MARA outputs and current counts

Hopkins pointed committee members to the LFD tool that combines historical admissions, releases and facility‑by‑facility counts. As of the snapshot he used, the number of people being held in local jails while waiting for DOC placement—so‑called jail holds—had risen to roughly 450 statewide, driven by 328 male and 111 female jail‑hold cases. Hopkins said the female jail‑hold rise is concentrated because Montana has only one state women’s secure facility (the Montana Women’s Prison) operating near capacity for several fiscal years. He said females are about 10% of the overall offender population but account for about 25–30% of jail holds.

Hopkins highlighted out‑of‑state contracted capacity that the state has used. The Saguaro Correctional Center (Arizona) was initially used for 120 beds in 2023, rose to 240 beds in late 2023 and to 360 beds at the start of the 2025 session, Hopkins said. He noted reporting that CoreCivic and DOC had an agreement to move 240 inmates to Mississippi.

Cost and timing scenarios

Hopkins told the committee construction costs per prison bed vary widely; his survey of research shows a range of roughly $300,000 to $500,000 per bed when including infrastructure and supporting costs. Using a low‑end $300,000 per‑bed assumption, he said the state could face $600–$700 million in one‑time construction costs by 2035 to provide the capacity implied by the baseline projections.

House Bill 5, which includes a request for 512 additional beds at Montana State Prison (Deer Lodge), figures in the options lawmakers are considering. Hopkins said the HB5 price tag for 512 beds is $150 million — a per‑bed cost he called “on the very low end” and warned that construction cost escalation could increase that figure. He said construction inflation for prison capacity modeling has been assumed at about 6% annually.

Ongoing operations and alternatives

Scott Eichner, rehabilitation programs chief for DOC, described program and staffing tradeoffs tied to new beds. Eichner said the Deer Lodge additions under the current construction plan for three housing units are designed to be a staffing “wash,” but added that a proposal for two additional housing units would require new FTE and operational funds. Hopkins estimated ongoing operations and maintenance for the larger HB5 project at roughly $6–$7 million per year; House Bill 5 itself included about $1 million per year in maintenance for the facility in early staffing estimates, Hopkins said.

Contracted secure beds remain cheaper on a per‑day basis: Hopkins said contracted secure beds in private facilities were running roughly $90–$120 a day depending on site (Crossroads Correctional Center and Saguaro at about $92/day; Deer Lodge roughly $110–$120/day including medical costs in his estimate). Hopkins also noted a statutory formula sets the jail‑hold day rate paid to CoreCivic at the CoreCivic rate less 10% and characterized the current statutory jail‑hold day rate at about $280 per day.

Drivers of growth and data gaps

Hopkins said reported violent crime counts and certain categories of serious offenses have increased in recent years; reported violent counts rose about 62% since 2014 and the violent crime rate per 100,000 residents rose roughly 50% when adjusted for population. But he cautioned that reported crime is an imperfect proxy for future DOC admissions because not all reported offenses lead to convictions or prison sentences. He also told members that Senate Bill 11 (2023) created a mandate to build a cross‑system data warehouse to link law‑enforcement, corrections and public‑health datasets; that warehouse is not yet complete, so the MARA tool uses facility and conviction data available today while the warehouse is being built.

Female population and jail holds

Both Hopkins and lawmakers highlighted the faster projected growth in the female offender population: Hopkins’ baseline projection shows estimated female prison population growth of roughly 51–52% through 2044 if current trends continue, driven in recent years primarily by drug‑related offenses and a lack of in‑state female secure capacity. Lawmakers pressed for offense‑level breakdowns that Hopkins said he could seek; he agreed the Judicial Branch and DOC datasets and forthcoming SB11 data warehouse should make more granular offense‑level projections possible.

Programming, reentry and alternatives

Eichner emphasized that new housing should include program space. He said the current MSP plan doubles large programming space on the low side and triples small group programming space, and that facilities without adjacent, modern programming space hamper rehabilitation. Eichner described work to contract mobile or higher‑education partners (for example, Great Falls College welding trailers) to provide in‑facility training rather than the DOC maintaining all equipment and instructors directly.

What lawmakers asked for next

Committee members asked for follow‑up details Hopkins offered to deliver: offense‑level breakdowns for female offenders, updated data through later FY2024 quarters and a more thorough accounting of contracted‑bed daily rates and community corrections costs. Hopkins said some of his projections likely understate recent growth because his dataset stops at Q1 FY2024 and several significant capacity changes and jail‑hold increases occurred in later quarters.

Why it matters

Lawmakers must weigh one‑time capital costs, multi‑year staffing and O&M needs, the short‑term availability of contracted beds and limits on where women can be housed. The committee heard that the choices — build more in‑state capacity, expand contracted out‑of‑state placements, or invest in programs that reduce admissions and length of stay — carry different price tags, timelines and policy trade‑offs for public safety and corrections budgets.

Ending note

Presenters and DOC officials urged legislators to use MARA’s scenario tools when weighing policy changes, saying the interface allows staff to plug in hypothetical initiatives (for example, a program with national evidence reducing recidivism by a certain percentage) and see long‑term population and budget effects. Hopkins and Eichner said more complete cross‑system data from the SB11 data warehouse will improve projections and policy analysis once it is operating fully.","Legislative fiscal analysts and Department of Corrections officials told the House Judiciary Committee that Montana faces growing offender populations and expanding jail holds that are straining capacity and budgets, and that filling the gap will require large one‑time construction spending or increased reliance on cheaper contracted beds.","actionData","errors"]

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Judicial candidates and sitting judges urge transparency, stronger investigations for Montana Judicial Standards Commission

Legislative fiscal staff: Montana prison population, jail holds rising; costly capacity gap looms