County will help with jail closing

Flathead County is willing to give some assistance to Columbia Falls with transporting and holding prisoners, after the city closes its jail this spring.

Other issues remain unsolved, however, as the city plans to merge into the Flathead County 911 Emergency Communications Center. The change will leave the city without dispatchers to watch its prisoners, effectively closing the jail. Prisoners will be transported to Kalispell and held at the Flathead County Detention Center.

City and county officials met Monday in Columbia Falls to discuss the transition. County representatives said they will do what they can to help the city, but are constrained primarily by budgetary issues.

"Columbia Falls has been great to work with on this whole (911 center) consolidation," Commissioner Joe Brenneman said. "I'd like to try to make sure we work these things out."

The Flathead County Sheriff's Office will transport prisoners between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays. During evenings and weekends, if a deputy is available he or she do the transports.

Sheriff Mike Meehan said handling transports completely would require him to hire two and a half officers at a cost of roughly $200,000, something his budget doesn't allow.

"I'll due everything I can to transport prisoners, but it's unfair not to tell you to not totally rely on a deputy, when there might be times when we can't transport," he said.

Prisoners would be held at the county facility, as space permits. Just as now, which prisoners are held would be prioritized based on offense. Those accused of misdemeanors would be released to allow the jail to hold those charged with felonies or in domestic violence cases.

"There are people who are a threat to society that statutorily I have to take and I don't have a problem with that," he said.

Meehan said he's working on a plan that would set aside beds for prisoners transported from the cities. The specific number for each city remains undetermined. About 400 people are booked into the city jail each year.

Columbia Falls Police would be responsible for transporting prisoners to Kalispell during off hours and weekends. Booking time combined with travel time could mean an officer is tied up for several hours. Also during a few shifts there is only one on-duty officer in the city.

"We'd still have no choice but to schedule (more) officers," said Police Chief Dave Perry.

Perry has estimated that the city would have to hire two more officers to fill the gaps.

One alternative include using a private contractor for prisoner transportation, which might include a joint agreement with Whitefish. On-call or reserve officers could also be used to temporarily monitor prisoners in the city jail until transport is arranged. The city is also considering a video conference system that would allow prisoners to make court appearances from Kalispell rather than being transported back to Columbia Falls.

Perry, City Manager Bill Shaw and City Judge Susan Gordon have been meeting on the issue for several months.

"As managers we've taken all the steps to prepare. I don't expect it to be an unworkable situation," Shaw said.

Keeping the city jail open seems to be unlikely. That would require the city to hire a minimum of five officers, effectively doubling the police force.

Mayor Jolie Fish continues to voice her opposition to closing the jail.

"It's a disservice to the community," she said. "It's really upsetting to me."

The cities and county began discussing 911 consolidation in the early 1990s. Currently, there are four dispatch centers in the county — the county center operated by the Sheriff's Office, and Kalispell, Whitefish and Columbia Falls each have centers. Now, calls all come into the Sheriff's Office and then are transferred as needed.

The new system will put all dispatching under one roof. That, combined with updated computer aided dispatching centers and radio systems, is expected to improve emergency response times.

Several council members pointed out that closing the jail could be positive when it comes to relieving the city of the liability of operating it. Some also pointed to the expected improvement in the 911 service as a trade-off.

Council member Julie Plevel said the new system has its benefits even if it means closing the jail.

"One person on Foothill Road having a heart attack and can't be found — they are important (too)," she said.