DOC consolidates out-of-state inmates to Mississippi facility, inmate relatives share frustrations

BUTTE, Mont. -- As the Montana Department of Corrections looks to address Montana's inmate overcrowding problem, officials hope that a recent decision to consolidate all out-of-state inmates into one facility will be helpful in the long term. However, family members of inmates set to be transferred are frustrated with the situation.

Due to limited facilities, Montana currently houses around 600 inmates in out-of-state facilities. Of these 600, 360 had been housed at Saguaro Correctional Center in Arizona, while the other 240 had been located to Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Mississippi.

The DOC has recently agreed to place all 600 inmates at the Tallahatchie facility, though the specifics of the inmate transfer process are not public information due to security reasons.

In sharing their reasoning for making this change, DOC officials provided a statement that having all out-of-state inmates concentrated in one facility will allow Montana to be more effective in leveraging out-of-state contracts.

The DOC also stated that such a move will create better consistency in providing those out-of-state inmates with services and opportunities related to jobs, education, and programming.

But relatives of inmates to be transferred don't share the same optimistic outlook. Top anxieties include having to make major adjustments in the rehabilitation process, as well as increased financial barriers to seeing family.

"A lot of the families that I have contact with, they're kind of at their wit's end because these guys are just getting accepted into programs and just starting on their journey for probation or release, and then they have to move again and start all over every time," said Sapphire Mountains resident Alyssa Fernandez, whose husband is one of the Arizona inmates set to be relocated to Mississippi.

"Flying down there, getting a hotel, and getting a rental car so that we can get from the hotel to the facility is an exorbitant expense on the family," said Helena resident KC Betchie, whose brother is incarcerated at Saguaro. "The fact that we're not able to go down there to visit my brother tells me that there's a lot of other families who are not able to visit their loved ones because it is financially impossible to do so."

A common concern shared by inmate families is transparency, especially in regard to how parole is granted.

"I've heard so many family members state that their loved one was up for parole, and they did everything they were asked to do--great behavior, never got into trouble, followed through with everything--and they're denying them," said Boulder resident Sherry Kenda-Feller, whose grandson has been incarcerated at Saguaro for over two years. "The parole board needs to follow through with what they're there for, and that's going to really cut down on the population of Montana State Prison."

As part of these relocation plans, the DOC is hoping to return all out-of-state inmates to Montana by 2029. An expansion project at the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge, in which 900 new beds are expected to become available, is underway.