Tag: Housing options for Montana offenders

Montana Law and Justice Interim Committee – Someone Call Search and Rescue

The LJIC is responsible for monitoring the activities of the Office of the State Public Defender (OPD), the Department of Corrections (DOC), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and any entities attached to those agencies for administrative purposes. The administratively attached entities that the LJIC monitors are: • the Board of Pardons and Parole (attached to DOC); • the Board of Crime Control (attached to DOJ until January 1, 2018, when it will transfer to DOC); • the Gaming Advisory Council (attached to DOJ); and • the Public Safety Officer Standards and Training (POST) Council (attached to DOJ).

The LJIC is required to monitor the operations of the agencies under its jurisdiction and should give specific attention to: 1) identifying issues likely to require further legislative action; 2) identifying opportunities to improve existing laws that govern an agency’s operation and programs; 3) determining whether the experiences Montanans have had with an agency can be improved through legislative action; and 4) reviewing proposed agency legislation. 

 
The Law and Justice Interim Committee has been meeting for the last two years implementing and monitoring laws designed to reduce prison overcrowding and recidivism.   The members come to the meetings with their designer coffee's and wander in late after roll call.  The law enforcement personnel testifying get to put on "their good stuff" and look shiny.  The agencies being monitored turn out their best looking people dressed all fancy and smiling, with reports that have been worded just right.  The Committee Members tour prison facilities and of course Director Reginald Michael always looks great and speaks eloquently. Everyone looks shiny, dresses well and drinks expensive coffee...and spend millions of dollars.

The 2017 Legislature passed a package of bills purported to reduce prison overcrowding and recidivism in the Department of Corrections population. The Law and Justice Interim Committee was tasked with monitoring the operations of the agencies in implementing this package of laws. Perhaps the committee members got lost in Montana attempting to implement the law MCA 44-7-120. A law that actually provides housing for those inmates being released from prison. This law sprang from Senate Bill 65 and is now an actual law that cannot be enforced. I fear the members are lost somewhere looking for the housing created by this law. It is the only explanation I can find for their complete lack of monitoring the agencies they have been tasked to monitor and identifying opportunities to improve existing laws that govern an agency’s operation and programs.

Here are some recent newspaper headlines concerning these laws created by the legislature and tasked to the Law and Justice Interim Committee to implement and monitor.
Yellowstone County: A Montana sheriff is saying efforts to reduce jail crowding are backfiring                     Flathead County: “Nothing that happened at the Legislature has affected jail overcrowding at this point.   
Lewis and Clark County: The planned renovations will bring capacity from the current 80 inmates to 156.

The Law and Justice Interim Committee, after two years of drinking designer coffee, listening to law enforcement personnel dressed up in their “good stuff”and listening to the carefully worded reports of monitored agencies, voted for the following legislative action to reduce prison overcrowding and reduce recidivism:

LAW AND JUSTICE INTERIM LEGISLATION

The committee voted in September 2018 to forward 3 bills to the 2019 Legislature.

  • LC 93 (LClj01) — Clarifying interim oversight of the Office of State Public Defender.  Section 1.  Section 5-5-228, MCA, is amended to read:  (iv) the office of state public defender;
  • LC 360 (LClj02) — Revise appointment of board of pardons and parole members.  Section 2.  Section 2-15-2305, MCA, is amended to read: The members must be appointed as provided in [section 1]. using the process provided for in [section 1].
  • LC 361 (LClj04) — Eliminate or revise MCA references to Article II, section 36, of the Montana Constitution (Marsy’s Law). Marsy’s Law was passed by the heart strings of voters. The Montana Supreme Court has declared Marsy’s Law unconstitutional.

Two years of work, millions of dollars and the Law and Justice Interim Committee have added 23 words in two laws to relieve prison/jail overcrowding and to reduce recidivism. Meanwhile a few miles down the road the Montana Innocence Project, with the help of volunteers and donations, have exonerated seven wrongfully convicted people in Montana. The Montana Innocence Project did this without tax payer money, wearing jeans and t-shirts and fighting state prosecutors to free innocent people.

I fail to see where the addition of 23 words is going to relieve prison overcrowding, reduce recidivism and provide housing for those leaving prison. The Law and Justice Interim Committee has given a whole new meaning to GET LOST IN MONTANA. 

 






 


























	


	
	






	
	

		
Montana Senate Bill 65 – Housing Options With No Options, to Reduce Recidivism
	


	

		
Montana Senate Bill 65 was enacted by the request of the Commission on Sentencing.  The heart of the law is to revise laws regarding housing options for offenders and to create a supportive housing grant program to reduce recidivism.   Senate Bill 65 is a disappointing failure.


Once again, I think the people that comprised the Commission on Sentencing had a sincere desire to help offenders and to reduce recidivism by providing housing after leaving correctional facilities.  Unfortunately, the first thing that jumps out at me is this bill authorizes probation and parole officers to carry firearms.  Probation and parole officers should be allowed to carry firearms but I don't see where this enactment helps with housing. Under the same section that allows officers to carry firearms, they are to administer the rental voucher program.  I am very confused how the carrying of firearms has anything to do with the rental voucher program.  But I digress, let's look at the rest of the bill.

Senate Bill 65 encourages the Department to coordinate with local governments and local agencies to identify all available housing options.  Most communities and agencies are aware there is not enough affordable housing in their communities for citizens in need, let alone for those just being released from prison.  How does this bill increase housing options if no options exist?  This bill fails to create housing options.  There are no housing options.

Senate Bill 65 does not allocate any funds for housing.  The bill is enacted on some obscure hope that federal and state grant money will be available to pay for this act.  Section 2 states "within the limits of available funds...develop and administer a supportive grant program to improve access to housing..." "Grants available...consist of state appropriations and federal funds..."  The State of Montana is in a budget crisis.  There is no money in the state coffers to provide housing.  The Federal Government is in a budget crisis.  What state and federal grants are we looking at?  In the unlikely event grant funds are given, the bill allows the grant money to be used to hire case managers, hire housing specialists, hire employees for housing placement services and to reimburse landlords for tenant-related damages.  After hiring all these new state employees there won't be any money left for housing vouchers, just new state employees.  

This housing bill authorizes the "siting, establishment and expansion of prerelease centers".  Prerelease centers are not housing options.  Build it and they will come. Prerelease centers are only options for recidivism.  If we build more centers we need more recidivism.  This kind of blows the whole Commission on Sentencing out of the water.  Reduce recidivism by increasing the need for recidivism.

This next one is good.  Senate Bill 65 requires the Department to "maintain data on the number of individuals who are discharged from the adult correction services into a homeless shelter or a homeless situation."  Wait..I thought the purpose of this bill was to provide housing not homelessness.  I guess providing housing grants went out the window to pay for all the new state employees hired to administer the housing grants.  Now we have to hire someone to track the data on those discharged to a homeless shelter.  This is very responsible use of grant money.  No housing just new state employees.

Senate Bill 65 is based on receiving obscure, unknown federal and state grants from government agencies that have no money.  The grant money then will be used to hire new state employees to administer the grant money except all the grant money will be used to hire new employees to administer the grant money and there won't be any left to provide housing.  Then to reduce recidivism, Senate Bill 65 authorizes the creation of new prerelease centers that will only increase recidivism because we have to fill the new centers with offenders.  Then because all the grant money is used for new state employees, Senate Bill 65 requires the tracking of those released to homeless situations.

Senate Bill 65 only creates new jobs for state employees and no housing options for offenders leaving correctional facilities.