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Shelby officials say town accepts growth

If state prison officials have their way, the privately run prison in Shelby will double in size next year — and that’s just fine with local leaders.

"Overall, it’s been a real positive thing," Shelby Mayor Larry Bonderud said of the 5-year-old Crossroads Correctional Center. "To the best of my knowledge, we’ve really had no complaints about anything that’s out there at all."

By MIKE DENNISON
Tribune Capitol Bureau

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20040820/localnews/1082591.html

Top state corrections officials said this week they’d like to increase the 500-bed prison to 1,000 beds, making it second in size only to the State Prison at Deer Lodge.

If the state’s inmate population continues to grow, the Shelby prison could be expanded to 1,500 beds, state officials say, becoming the largest prison in Montana.

The construction would be carried out by the prison’s owner, Corrections Corp. of America of Nashville, Tenn.

CCA officials from Nashville have just begun talks with Montana corrections officials about a 500-bed expansion at Shelby.

If they work out a tentative contract, the proposal would need funding approval from the 2005 Legislature. Corrections Director Bill Slaughter said this week he plans to ask for a $12 million budget increase over the next two years for "contract beds" — which means cells at the Shelby prison.

"The quickest and cheapest way to expand beds in Montana today is to go with CCA," Slaughter said. "The site is designed for (up to) 1,500 beds. They don’t even have to replace the fence.

"The more inmates we have in there, the cheaper the beds are."

It usually takes CCA nine to 12 months to complete construction of a prison, said CCA spokeswoman Louise Chickering in Nashville.

Joe Williams, head of the Corrections Department’s Centralized Services Division, said if a new prison isn’t built by next year, the state will probably be "exporting" prisoners to facilities out-of-state.

The state pays CCA $53 a day per inmate to house Montana inmates at the prison, and has 425 inmates there now. The U.S. Marshal’s Service also houses about 60 inmates at the Crossroads prison in Shelby.

The state is projecting an annual inmate growth of 5 percent to 6 percent in coming years, which is about 200 inmates a year.

The state already has 150 inmates on "hold" at county jails around Montana, waiting for placement in state facilities.

Jim MacDonald, CCA’s warden at the Shelby prison, said he and his staff will do what it takes to deal with more inmates.

"We built this thing with expansion in mind," he said. "We’re positioned, and we’re ready to take on that extra challenge."

However, MacDonald and Shelby officials acknowledge it won’t be easy finding enough qualified employees to work at an expanded prison.

"We’re going to have to attract more workers, more than we did before," said Toole County Commissioner Allan Underdal. "Part of the workforce is going to have to move here."

The prison employs 155 people, including about 100 guards or "correctional officers." Adding 500 beds means the prison will need at least another 100 employees, many of them guards, MacDonald said.

Just last month, CCA increased starting pay for correctional officers to $10.50 an hour, plus a benefit package that includes health insurance, vacation time and a 401-K plan for retirement, with the company matching a portion of the employee’s savings.

The prison employs people from Shelby, Cut Bank, Browning, Chester, Conrad, Choteau and even Great Falls, MacDonald said.

Shelby has three new housing subdivisions on the drawing board, and some employees may have to live in neighboring towns, officials say.

Bonderud said if the prison expands, it won’t be the only thing bringing new people and impacts to Shelby and Toole County. A big build-up of "homeland security" personnel already is under way, tied to the U.S.-Canada border crossing at Sweet Grass, on Interstate 15.

"Toole County will have one law-enforcement officer for every eight people by the time all of these build-ups occur," he said.

An expanding prison will be one part of a diversifying economy in Toole County, Bonderud said, including agriculture, homeland security, tourism and transportation.

Even if the prison becomes the largest one in the state, Bonderud said he doubts Shelby will become known as a "prison town" on a par with Deer Lodge.

"The schools across the state aren’t going to say, ‘If you don’t be good, you’ll go to Shelby,’" he said. "They’ll still say, ‘If you don’t be good, you’ll end up in Deer Lodge.’"

Dennison can be reached by e-mail at [email protected], or by phone at (406) 442-9493.

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