Department of Corrections Sues Flathead County Over Denial of Prerelease Center

Lawsuit alleges county Board of Adjustment acted beyond legal authority in decision to deny conditional use permit for Kalispell-area prerelease center

By Micah Drew for the Daily Montanan

The Flathead County Courthouse, pictured on December 31, 2024. (Micah Drew, Daily Montanan)

The Montana Department of Corrections (DOC) filed a lawsuit in district court against the Flathead County Board of Adjustment over the denial of a proposed prerelease center near Kalispell, calling the decision “arbitrary and capricious.”

The Board of Adjustment on October 1 voted 3-0, with two members absent, to deny a conditional-use permit for the proposed prerelease center after the Flathead County Commission approved the facility on the same day in a 2-to-1 decision.

In the lawsuit filed on October 31, DOC attorneys Charity Yonker and Andres Haladay allege the Board of Adjustment, a citizen board that reviews zoning administrator decisions related to zoning regulations and variances, “engaged in irrelevant discussions, speculated in the absence of fact, and made a pretextual determination to deny” the application. They request Flathead County District Court Judge Amy Eddy reverse the board’s decision.

The Montana Department of Corrections currently contracts with nonprofits and one county to operate seven prerelease centers in Montana, where offenders transition from secure facilities back into the community under supervision.

However, no facility serves the northwest portion of the state comprising three of the state’s top 10 most populous counties — Flathead, Lake and Lincoln. The corrections department determined a need for a center in the region, citing data showing that 120 of the state’s prerelease center residents — 12.9% — were from the Flathead Region.

“These offenders are offenders who, had there been a facility in their region of origin, may have benefited from structured step-down or step-up services close to their hometown,” DOC documents state.

A map showing Department of Corrections prerelease centers in Montana. (Courtesy DOC)

In 2023 the state legislature appropriated $7.1 million for the facility, and the department proposed a 90-bed prerelease center on the edge of Kalispell city limits at the site of the existing Greenwood Village Inn and Suites in Evergreen. Individuals in the facility would follow strict schedules, drug testing protocol and work requirements.

Corrections officials presented the proposal to the Flathead County Commission in September, and two of the three commissioners, along with the county jail commander, expressed support for the facility. When the commission voted in October, only Commissioner Pam Holmquist, who represents Evergreen, voted in opposition, citing negative feedback from residents near the proposed facility.

The final decision on the proposal, however, went to the county’s Board of Adjustment to approve the conditional-use permit, and the three members present voted unanimously to deny the permit.

Board members cited access issues to the property, an impact to local law enforcement and a negative impact to the safety of the neighborhood in their denial.

According to the department’s complaint, however, the Board of Adjustment (BOA) erred in making several amendments to the county’s findings of fact without substantive evidence to back up the changes.

One finding of fact stated that the county’s zoning administrator found adequate road access and adequate traffic circulation, and found that the proposed center would result in an estimated 272 fewer trips a day than the existing hotel, due to prerelease center offenders not having access to cars.

However, the board of adjustment amended a finding to conclude the road access was “inadequate to accommodate two-way traffic flow,” contradicting the county staff’s own research, according to the court filing.

The complaint also alleges the board abused its discretion by concluding that the local sheriff’s office “would have a limited ability to serve” potential issues arising from the prerelease center, despite not receiving any evidence, facts or testimony from the county sheriff.

“Law enforcement services are already provided to this property in its current usage as a hotel that commercially services transient individuals coming and going from the community,” the complaint states. “The BOA did not receive any evidence that the prerelease center would result in an increase in calls for service from the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office compared to the existing hotel.”

In addition, the original application from the Department of Corrections indicates that the center would have in-house security working 24-hours-a-day, and that “individuals residing at the prerelease center will be subject to curfews.” The complaint also points out that the only employee of the sheriff’s office who spoke at the Board of Adjustment meeting was in support of the permit.

The board amended another finding of fact to conclude that the proposed center would have a negative impact on the surrounding neighborhood, contrary to the original finding from county staff that the center was “not anticipated to have a negative impact.”

According to the complaint, the board “did not articulate any factual basis” behind its amendment.

“Inappropriate comments about ‘mental health,’ speculation regarding property values, and statements about feeling sorry for neighbors demonstrate the BOA’s amendment … was pretextual,” according to the court filing.

Ultimately the Department of Corrections complaint alleges the board’s denial was “arbitrary of lacking in conscientious judgement, beyond the bounds of reason resulting in substantial injustice,” and that it was overruling the county commission’s “substantive determination that Flathead County needs a prerelease center, and that the selected location was appropriate.”

The DOC suit requests Judge Eddy reverse the denial of the conditional-use permit and declare the board’s decision “unlawful; an abuse of discretion; and/or arbitrary and capricious.”

Prerelease centers are designed to assist offenders’ transition from secure facilities back into the community and provide an alternative to incarceration. The centers generally operate six-month step-down programs where residents live at the prerelease center, but work locally in the community.

Individuals at prerelease centers are supervised in a drug-free environment, have access to a wide range of treatments and programs including job training, counseling, anger management, and life-skills courses, and only leave the facility according to pre-approved schedules.

A previous proposal for a prerelease center near Kalispell was rejected in 2009 following public opposition.