Montana DOC finishes 600 inmate transfer to Mississippi prison

HELENA, Mont. — The Montana Department of Corrections (DOC) announced it had finished moving all 600 of its out-of-state inmates to the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Mississippi.

The department confirmed the last of three transports was completed on Wednesday. Before the move, 360 Montana inmates were housed at Saguaro Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona, while 240 were already in Mississippi.

DOC said the shift puts Montana’s entire out-of-state male prison population in one place.

“This decision to concentrate our entire out-of-state male prison population in one location allows the department to provide greater consistency to our out-of-state inmates while being efficient and focused in leveraging our contracts,” said Director Eric Strauss. “With this transfer, inmates will have improved access to services and opportunities including jobs, programming and education.”

State officials said lawmakers and the governor set aside funding for out-of-state adult male prison beds during the 2023 and 2025 Montana legislative sessions. According to the department, that was part of an effort to ease ongoing overcrowding in Montana prisons.

For a longer-term fix, the department said legislators allocated and the governor secured $306 million for five new units at Montana State Prison. Those additions are expected to create more than 900 beds and open in January 2029.

“We’re extremely grateful to Governor Gianforte and Montana legislators for their investment in our correctional infrastructure,” Strauss said. “The new units will allow us to bring our out-of-state inmates back to Montana to receive the services they need to succeed when they return to the community. In addition, they can be closer to their loved ones while they prepare for that.”