Private Corrections Montana

Implosion Of The Montana Department of Corrections

In January, 2018 the Montana Law and Justice Interim Committee met in Helena. The meeting was particularly interesting in that a glaring deficiency was apparent. Unless Governor Steve Bullock and Department of Corrections Director Reginald Michael are truly behind the Committee it will fail and, unfortunately, it has been designed to fail. The implosion of the Montana Department of Corrections began in 2014 and continues today. Governor Bullock and previous Corrections Director Mike Batista and Bureau Chief Ron Alsbury are fully responsible.

Montana’s prisons are over capacity. The prison population increased 11 percent between FY2008 and FY2015 and is projected to continue to grow 13
percent by FY2023, requiring at least $51 million in new spending for contract prison beds.

Corrections in Montana is big business.  Really big business.  Private Corrections in Montana is really big business.  State run corrections in Montana is really big business.

By Peter Wagner and Bernadette Rabuy

January 25, 2017

Governor Bullock is term limited from being Governor for another term in Montana.  His sights are set on a national campaign.  National political campaigns are not funded by individual felons from Montana.  They are funded by big business.  This is where the implosion began and how it continues today.

In July 2014 Director Mike Batista and Bureau Chief Ron Alsbury began discussing reorganization of the Adult Community Corrections Division and changes to the sanctions grid.  The sanctions grid determines the probation/parole status of offenders and what punishments are exacted for violations, including minor and technical infractions.  The following grid was established.  Click on link below to view grid.

sj3-sanctions-flow-chart

October 9, 2014 Department of Corrections personnel received an email from Dave Armstrong, Administrator of Alternatives Inc, a private contract pre-release center, which is known as Alpha House for men and Passages for women. "So besides Cr'ing (conditional release) everyone in jail, what else?  What should we expect from the P&P grid, will be asked to hang onto drug and alcohol users?"

Probation/Parole offenders that are under normal supervision are sanctioned to jail by court authority.  Probation/Parole offenders on conditional release, under the new grid, will be sanctioned by probation/parole officers to private contract facilities without having to file with the court.  There is no money in corrections for offenders sitting in jail. There is big money for offenders sanctioned to private facilities.  Under the P&P grid all sanctions for conditional release will be made to private contract facilities without the need for interventions and court action. Put everyone sitting in jail on conditional release then probation/parole does not need to go through interventions they simply go straight to private incarceration. The plan is now in place for big business.

September 16, 2014 at a DOC meeting it was revealed that one DOC employee had a meeting with Mike Thatcher, CEO of Butte Pre-release, where it was revealed that Governor Bullock had called Mike Thatcher to his office and Governor Bullock told him to keep his mouth shut about DOC issues and to back off during the legislative session.  Without revealing his plan to Mike Thatcher Governor Bullock did not want Thatcher to disrupt his plans to increase private contractor beds to increase population in private facilities.  The plan for big business.

September 30, 2104 at a meeting with DOC personnel, concerns were expressed that the contract with PEW Charitable Trust and Dennis Schranz was "shady and would bite us in the ass."  Concern was also expressed that there was no procurement for the PEW contract and that personnel and contractors would be watching for the contract to be posted to a department or state website.  The PEW Charitable Trust is a consulting firm that was hired to assist the Montana Law and Justice Interim Committee to plan and reform criminal justice and sentencing.  The Pew Charitable Trust was hired to reduce the need for more private contract beds while Governor Bullock, Mike Batista and Ron Alsbury's plan was to increase private contract beds by sanctioning probation/parolees to conditional release, bypassing interventions and sanctioning offenders directly to contract beds.

The Law and Justice Interim Committee is being directed by The Pew Charitable Trust with a contract that was not put through the State of Montana procurement process.  The intent of the Committee is to reduce jail, prison and private contract incarceration.  Unbeknownst to the Law and Justice Committee, the Governor and the Director of the Montana Department of Corrections are acting in a complete opposite direction.  Big business requires the incarceration of individuals and Governor Bullock needs the backing of big business.  This includes corrections agencies both public and private, employees and their big business unions, health care, construction, food, utilities, clothing, phone companies, judges, prosecutors, public defenders, police and their unions, commissary and the list goes on for big business.  

The Law and Justice Interim Committee meets and listens to attractive people with agenda's purporting the good work they are doing to reduce jail, prison and private incarceration.  They tour facilities and have inmates smile at them for the good work they are attempting to do.  The real question they need to ask is how many probation/parolees are conditionally released from jails and then sanctioned to private contract facilities and prisons because under the P&P grid those on conditional release do not need to go through the intervention and court process.  They are sanctioned to incarceration because the probation and parole officers no longer have to file with the court to sanction them.  The incarceration rates continue to rise because Governor Bullock's plan undermines the work of the Committee and they don't have a clue what is really happening.

Governor Bullock needs big business to finance his national campaign.  The next question is where does the new Montana Director of Corrections Reginald Michael stand?  He was hand picked by Governor Bullock. Does he stand with Governor Bullock and the Montana Department of Corrections undermining the work of the Committee or does he stand with the Law and Justice Interim Committee?

Private Corrections In Montana – The Joke Is On Montana

The Montana Department of Corrections contracts with Community Counseling and Correctional Services Inc. (CCCS Inc), also known as the Butte PreRelease Center, to provide correctional services in Montana. CCCS Inc also operates the Bismarck ND Transitional Center. CCCS Inc is a private not for profit correctional provider that pays exorbitant salaries to its’ executive officers at taxpayer expense.

CCCS Inc contracts with the Montana Department of Corrections for a per diem rate of $53.03 for each incarcerated male. There are 120 male beds at the Butte center. CCCS Inc contracts for a per diem rate of $62.27 for each incarcerated female. There are 55 female beds at the Butte center. Apparently being a female is a pre-existing condition and therefore costs more to treat.

CCCS Inc recently contracted with Bismarck ND Transitional Center to incarcerate and treat offenders at a per diem rate of $48.00 per day. This per diem rate is $5.03 per day less for each North Dakota incarcerated male than for each Montana incarcerated male. The cost of living in North Dakota is comparable to the cost of living in Montana.

At $5.03 per day for 120 beds, Montana is paying $603.60 more per day for the same service than North Dakota is paying. At $5.03 per day for 120 beds, Montana is paying $220,314.00 more per year for the same service to the same not for profit company than North Dakota is paying. North Dakota sure has better negotiating skills than Kevin Olson, Administrator for Montana Probation and Parole.

Montanans love their North Dakotan jokes. It seems the joke is on Montana. We are paying almost a quarter of a million dollars a year more to the same company for the same service. Eh, just raise Montana taxes, that will cover it.

Montana Department of Corrections – A Shameful Failure

Gov Steve Bullock recently signed a package of bills to reduce recidivism within the Montana Dept of Corrections. In 2015 the Legislature signed into effect Senate Bill 224 to review practices, policies and to reduce recidivism within the Montana Dept of Corrections. A great deal of effort, money and time has been necessary to overcome Montana Bureau Chief Ron Alsbury’s failed practices, policies and secretive administration.

Ron Alsbury was Bureau Chief of Montana Probation and Parole from 2003 – 2015. Let’s look at his statistics: From FY2009-2015 the raw increase of Parole violations was 241%. The American Indian population accounts for an astounding 27% of the 241% increase. (see Montana Dept of Justice Arrest Data, FY2009-FY2015) In 2003, the year Alsbury took reign, there was an immediate increase of 8% male return rate to prison (from 39% to 47%) and an astounding 11% increase of recidivism rate (from 38% to 49%). This is one year!! ( see Montana Commission on Sentencing, March 2016)

Ron Alsbury is a devoted member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ( the Mormons). Ron was raised in a culture, within the church, that dark skin was a sign of sin. I believe it to be preposterous that Bishop Ron Alsbury would allow his religious beliefs to bleed into his responsibilities as Bureau Chief of Montana Probation and Parole. Therefore, I again find it preposterous that the astounding and inequitable increase of American Indians that are violated and returned to prison had anything to do with these personal beliefs.

Ron Alsbury maintained a secretive policy of hiding probation and parole files. (see P&P 40-3 section F, Probation and Parole field file management) Probation officers are refused access to these files. All the talking and meeting, all the bills legislated, and all the money spent preventing recidivism is useless and wasted when we hide the very information necessary for prisoner re-entry. Private contract Pre-Release centers are not even required to submit treatment records, medical records or records concerning the inmate’s activity at the Pre-Release when the inmate is released to Probation and Parole. Probation and Parole officers blindly accept the inmate without any knowledge of what transpired while the inmate was incarcerated at the Private Contract Pre-Release Center. Re-entry cannot be successful. This failure to provide records falls squarely on Ron Alsbury’s shoulders. All the legislation in the world cannot correct policies and procedures as instituted by Ron Alsbury.

Can recidivism be reversed? Yes, but only by understanding what is the true problem. Files and investigations cannot be hidden from the convicted and from the probation officer. Private contract Pre-Release Centers and prisons must be held accountable for maintaining and transferring records to assist in re-entry programs. Imagine going to a doctor for a referral and not having any records. The doctor would not be able to give professional assistance without records. The same goes for a person released from incarceration without records. There cannot be professional assistance without records. Legislate away Montana, waste money and fill up those prisons. Ron Alsbury’s tenure will leave a lasting impact on Montana and it’s families. Secretive policies will always fail. Recidivism will continue to rise as it did under Ron Alsbury and Montana will continue to pay the costs.