Associated Press
HELENA, Mont. — The Montana Senate has endorsed three bills aimed at reducing the prison population and its related costs.
One bill would create a three-member paid parole board that would hold more timely hearings and be required to consider a parole plan developed by the Department of Corrections before imposing other conditions.
Another bill would help paroled inmates find housing. Democratic Sen. Cynthia Wolken of Missoula told lawmakers that inmates who have been granted parole but cannot find permanent housing remain in prison at a cost of $120 a day.
A third bill would allow hearing officers to sanction non-violent probationers for technical violations, saving court time.
Wolken says the Council of State Governments’ Justice Center estimated the housing and parole sanction bills would save about $18.5 million in 2018-19.