State moves forward, plans meeting to discuss siting Laurel psychiatric facility
An artist's rendition of what a state psychiatric facility would look like. That facility is being proposed in Laurel, Montana. These building renderings were presented to state legislators on March 9, 2026 (via Montana Legislature, Children, Families and Public Health Committee).
As Laurel citizens continue to fight against a proposed state psychiatric facility and their own town leaders, officials from the state on Tuesday night announced the formal beginning of the process that could eventually lead to the creation of a 32-bed facility on 114 acres just beyond the city’s limits.
A group of well-organized citizens, Laurel Community Advocates for Responsible Economic Development, or Laurel C.A.R.E.D., has been a formidable force at city council meetings, urging the city council to halt any plans, leading a recall petition against Mayor David Waggoner, and most recently calling on local, county and state officials to investigate city leaders for allegedly working behind the scenes with the state to bring the facility to Laurel.
Meanwhile, those same residents were upset and shocked when, after months of protesting, the Laurel City Council last week rejected a proposal that would have placed a moratorium on annexing any new property into the city — an idea city staff pushed back against because of unintended consequences including halting housing and other business development.
During a meeting last week to consider an emergency annexation moratorium so that the city could study its water and sewer infrastructure, the council vote 5-3 to support the proposal, but a moratorium takes a supermajority of council members, and it failed.
Meanwhile, state leaders announced a public meeting at 10 a.m., on April 22 to hear from state officials, including from the Department of Public Health and Human Services, which would operate the state facility, as well as give the public a chance to express their views on the record.
Dan Villa, the executive director of the Montana Board of Investment, which is purchasing the land on behalf of the state, made the announcement on Tuesday night during the public comment period of the city council meeting in Laurel.
“DPHHS has selected Laurel as the preferred alternative. That decision begins the formal public comment period,” Villa said. “While legal interpretations of the necessity of this listening session differ, the state has elected to provide this forum so community members can share their views directly and on the record.”
Villa also told the council a request for governmental-use designation has been sent to Laurel. He told city council members that state law also allows for the city to host a public hearing, but that hearing must occur within 30 days of the notice.
Department of Public Health and Human Services Director Charlie Brereton and Villa have invited the Laurel City Council President and VIce-President to tour state facilities in Helena and Galen to see how other state-run institutions operate.
As frustrations have roiled community members, causing some residents to coalesce around the Laurel CARED, state leaders have also decried what they believe is misinformation about the facility, leading the state to create “myth-and-fact” presentation at a recent interim legislative committee, and a website for the public.
The concerns about the facility that have been raised in public comments range from nearby property values to the strain on city infrastructure to the safety of children attending an elementary school a half-mile away.
However, city leaders have also continued to warn residents that the decision about the facility may be out of the municipality’s hands because Montana law exempts government-use facilities from local zoning.
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