Montana Sheriffs & Peace Officers Association
PO Box 794 • Helena, MT 59624 • (406) 443-5669 • www.mspoa.org

SB 303 – Local Detention Center Information
Questions Asked
1. How much money is collected in fees and commissions per month?
2. What are the fees used for?
3. What are the commissions used for?
4. If you have an inmate welfare fund, how are those funds utilized?
5. Total budget for your detention facility
6. Percentage of inmates in your facility who are county inmates vs. state inmates
7. How much did your facility pay to have the inmate calling hardware and software installed? What
is the total value of the equipment?
8. What security measures do you have in place for phone monitoring, data storage, etc?
Broadwater County
1. Last month we made $1000 but paid TurnKey $2000. This varies month to month.
2. Fees are used for Inmate Welfare
3. Commission is also for Inmate Welfare
4. Inmate Welfare fund is utilized for things like TV’s, Pizza, special things for Christmas, new washer
and dryer etc. It is always used in the jail to help the inmates.

Cascade County
1. How much money is collected in fees and commissions per month?
We only collect a commission, approximately $4,300 a month.
2. What are the fees used for?
We do not collect fees.
3. What are the commissions used for?
Our commission is used for inmate assistance, meaning we hired an Inmate Specialist employee.
She is charged with daily hiring and maintaining lists of inmate laborers within the facility. She
replaces and organizes hard drives, to include finding video clips from older hard drives. She
creates login information for employees and monitors facility cameras to ensure they’re working
properly (safety). Troubleshoots and keeps track of all inmate tablets to include returning broken
tablets and being the liaison between the facility and Securus. She handles all Securus phone
issues, including troubleshooting and inmate PIN changes, Securus Video Visitation issues,
answering inmate questions via e-messaging, she gives access to employees or other approved
outside entities, handles all kiosk issues to include Commissary password resets and ConnectUs
account login issues, etc. Because we have so many inmates coming and going daily, she stays very
busy with assisting inmates with tablets, PIN numbers, getting their accounts set-up, etc. Frankly,
if I lose commissions, I will have to cut this position and then I eliminate the tablets, kiosks, etc.
because I simply don’t have the staff (DO’s) that could take on her workload and also maintain the
security and safety of the Facility of their regular duties.
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4. If you have an inmate welfare fund, how are those funds utilized?
Inmates can place funds on their account and purchase either Commissary and/or music, videos,
games, etc. via their tablets or make phone calls. It’s 100% their money and they decide how they
want to spend their funds.
5. Total budget for your detention facility.
$21,755,112.00
6. Percentage of inmates in your facility who are county inmates vs. state inmates.
Average daily, we house around 28 MSP Waits/Holds, the other 370 are locals, Pre-Trial or Feds
7. How much did your facility pay to have the inmate calling hardware and software installed? What
is the total value of the equipment?
We paid $8,900.00 per video terminal; we have 28 video terminals in our jail for the inmates.
8. What security measures do you have in place for phone monitoring, data storage, etc?
Best I can explain here is see attached for what we offer in our Facility. Securus stores everything
for us at their Center in Texas. We can retrieve data/phone/video up to two years later. We also
have “Officer” tablets so they can monitor phone calls and video visits live, which is something
often that our Central Control Officer does. The software also picks up on key words/flags key
words and sends us intel reports immediately so we can investigate further if need be. We have
volunteers who listen to tons of inmate phone calls and we have solved numerous crimes just by
listening to phones calls even though inmates are informed that the call is being recorded and they
have no privacy via the phone calls. In fact, GFPD just solved a homicide about three weeks ago off
one of our jail phone calls because the guy admitted to his mom that he killed a guy downtown;
very powerful. If this all goes away, we will have no choice but to lose all of this monitoring ability,
which we and the inmates benefit from.
On our Jail Management System (JMS), I can see in real time what my jail count numbers are and “who”
our inmates belong to. Hopefully the below codes are self-explanatory…. CITYCRT, JP and PRETRIAL would
be “locals” essentially and everyone else belongs to the State (P&P or DOC) and USM is the Feds.
Cory
Jail Count
Held For 72HRHOLD
Held For BOP000000
Held For CITYCRT
Held For DISTRICTCRT
Held For JP
Held For MHP
Held For MSPWAIT
Held For MWP

4
1
25
2
5
2
25
3

Held For OTHERMT
Held For PAROLCONR
Held For PAROLEE00
Held For PRC000000

3
2
2
4

Held For PRETRIAL
Held For PROB00000
Held For USM

170
26
105

Total

379
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Custer County
1. How much money is collected in fees and commissions per month?
We collect no money or fees. All of ours goes back to Securus so we can provide video visiting and
we are also currently working on getting tablets into the facility. All of this allows more inmate
contact with their families.
2. What are the fees used for?
N/A
3. What are the commissions used for?
N/A
4. If you have an inmate welfare fund, how are those funds utilized?
We still have a fund and the revenue is from commissary. It is primarily used for cable tv, games,
basketballs, etc. We have also used it to buy bus tickets and some meal money for indigent
inmates who don't live here and need a ride back home.

Dawson County
1. Total budget for your detention facility
4.5 million, annually; for both the County Jail and the Contracted MT DOC Beds.
2. Percentage of inmates in your facility who are county inmates vs. state inmates
144 Inmate Beds Contracted to MT DOC. 24 County Jail Beds with 4 Jail Holding / Temp Beds.
3. How much did your facility pay to have the inmate calling hardware and software installed? What
is the total value of the equipment?
Dawson County paid zero dollars to install required equipment for Inmate Phone Services.
4. What security measures do you have in place for phone monitoring, data storage, etc?
Via the Inmate Phone System provider, ICS, we have access to their security software and
recordings. Staff monitor live calls as time allows; staff monitor recorded calls regularly.

Gallatin County
1. How much money is collected in fees and commissions per month?
$5000 - $8000 per month
2. What are the fees used for?
No additional fee is charged to the inmate
3. What are the commissions used for?
Money gets put into the general fund.
4. Total budget for your detention facility
Approximately $7.5 million
5. Percentage of inmates in your facility who are county inmates vs. state inmates
Our facility only holds county inmates who are pretrial/ sentenced to county time and inmates
awaiting transport to DOC or MSP. We don’t hold inmates to serve state time.
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6. How much did your facility pay to have the inmate calling hardware and software installed? What
is the total value of the equipment?
We did not pay anything to have the equipment installed nor do we own any of it.
7. What security measures do you have in place for phone monitoring, data storage, etc?
Phone/ Video visitation is done by officers on an irregular basis and by GTL. All data storage is
done by GTL.
Glacier County
1. How much money is collected in fees and commissions per month?
$200-$500 depending on jail population.
2. What are the fees used for?
Detention revenue offsetting the monthly cable bill and supplies for outgoing correspondence by
inmates.
3. What are the commissions used for?
Detention revenue offsetting the monthly cable bill and supplies for outgoing correspondence by
inmates.
4. If you have an inmate welfare fund, how are those funds utilized?
N/A
5. Total budget for your detention facility
$399,000 which includes payroll for six detention officers
6. Percentage of inmates in your facility who are county inmates vs. state inmates.
Averaging about 17 inmates in a 24 bed facility; 4 state, 5 county, 7 city and 2 MHP. We aren’t able
to bill on a city inmate.
7. How much did your facility pay to have the inmate calling hardware and software installed? What
is the total value of the equipment?
Unknown, installed by Consolidated Telecom approx. 8-10 years ago. Updated contract in 2021.
8. What security measures do you have in place for phone monitoring, data storage, etc?
Department head and some admin users have a web portal to download and monitor and enter
numbers to prohibit certain inmates from calling. All data is offsite and can be downloaded if
needed.
Granite County
1. How much money is collected in fees and commissions per month?
$10.00 in fees – no commission
2. What are the fees used for?
Care of Prisoners Fund – We use it to purchase inmate supplies
3. What are the commissions used for?
No Commission – Just fees
4. If you have an inmate welfare fund, how are those funds utilized?
All monies collected for phone rates go into the same fund “Care of Prisoners”
Jefferson County
1. We have no fees attached to out phone calls. Our phone calls are simply .25 cents a minute. From
1-1-21 through 12-31-21 we collected $5657.68 in phone call commissions
2. We have no Fees
3. All of our commissions go to the inmate welfare account
4. I utilize our inmate welfare fund for multiple things to make the inmates’ stay in our facility much
more pleasant. This is a simply a summary of what we do but it is certainly not a detailed list. The
inmate fund in our facility is utilized for purchasing of better jail equipment. For this example, I will
use mattresses. I utilize this fund so I don’t have to shop for the cheapest, thinnest mattress on
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5.
6.
7.
8.

the market that fits our budget. I will use the inmate fund to spend more on a thicker mattress
that will be more comfortable for the inmate. We also pay for Cable and purchase TVs for the
inmates out of this fund. We pay for the fast case system monthly out of the inmate fund, which
gives the inmate access to not only Montana law, but laws from other states as well, as frequently
inmates have pending cases in other states at the time of their stay here. It also gives them access
to case law for research purposes. Additionally, I like to provide special things to the inmates on
Holidays or special occasions. For example, over the last year, inmates got Pizza and Wings for the
super bowl, Banana splits on the 4th of July, Christmas goodie bags from Santa on Christmas (these
bags cost about $70 each). We also provide traditional meals for the inmates on Easter,
Thanksgiving and Christmas. Once again this is just a summary and not an entire list. If money is
spent out of our inmate fund, it is spent for inmate related items or activities.
Our total jail budget is $678,706 for this fiscal year
Currently 10% of our inmate population is D.O.C. and 90% is county
We paid nothing for the equipment or software for inmate communications. Cost of equipment
and instillation was $29,150. All paid for by the provider
All of our inmate communication is recorded and stored indefinitely by our phone provider. This
obviously excludes attorney calls. We also have the ability to live monitor calls if necessary.

In summary, I think for our facility that capping the phone rates will eliminate commissions and thus will
have the inmate fund for our facility disappear. I pride myself on treating the inmates in our facility so they
feel like people and not a number. Jail is tough for people and it would get even tougher if we did not
have the ability to utilize an inmate fund for better jail products and making holidays feel like a different
day while people are incarcerated here.
Lewis and Clark County
Sheriff Dutton requested I provide a report to you regarding our current accounting process regarding fees
charged to inmates for making telephone calls. As part of this process, I would like to begin with the
requirements established by the Montana Jail Standards adopted in 2019. Per Chapter 12, Inmate Rights,
Inmates are afforded the following rights when it comes to the use of a telephone:
Chapter 12.01 “…The facility’s written policies and procedures shall provide for the following:
a. Inmate access to counsel is ensured. Inmates are assisted in making confidential contact with
attorneys and their authorized representatives. Such contact includes, but is not limited to,
telephone communications, uncensored correspondence, and visits.”
Chapter 14 of the Montana Jail Standards provides further guidance regarding an inmates access
to telephone services. These are further explained in Chapter 14.07-14.09, which is listed below:
14.07 The facility has written policy and procedure which provides for inmate access to telephone
services.
14.08 All inmates, except those restricted as a result of disciplinary action, are provided the
opportunity to complete telephone calls to maintain family and community ties.
14.08.01 At least ten (10) minutes are allotted for each telephone call.
14.08.02 If calls are monitored, inmates are notified.
14.08.03 The facility may require that any costs for telephone calls be borne by the inmate
or the party called.
14.08.04 Inmates with hearing and/or speech disabilities, and inmates who wish to
communicate with parties who have such disabilities, are afforded access to a Telecommunications Device
for the Deaf (TDD) or comparable equipment. Telephones with volume control are also made available to
inmates with a hearing impairment.
14.09 Inmates are allowed to make a reasonable number of telephone calls to their attorneys.
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14.09.01 Calls to attorneys are of reasonable duration.
14.09.02 Calls to attorneys are not monitored.
14.09.03 Calls to attorneys are not revoked as a disciplinary measure.
In addition, our current system for making phone calls, Turnkey Corrections, also handles our
canteen orders. Chapter 17 of the Montana Jail Standards covers the use and administration of detention
canteens. These are further explained in Chapter 17.15-17.17, which is listed below:
17.15 Where Commissary programs exist, an inmate can purchase approved items that are not
furnished by the facility. The commissary’s canteen’s operations are strictly controlled using standard
accounting procedures.
17.16 Excess revenues derived from the operation of the commissary or canteen are used for the
benefit of inmates.
17.17 Indigent inmates are provided, without charge, those items specifically authorized by facility
policy and procedure.
Currently, our detention center is adhering to all the required jail standards laid out. Inmates are
allowed access to make phone calls, unless on disciplinary action, calls to attorneys are not monitored,
costs of the calls are put on the inmates, and any additional funding from the canteen program is directly
put back to the inmates’ benefit.
To go further in depth regarding the funds and income source, it shows we are going above and
beyond what is required by current jail standards. I have gathered data from the current fiscal year and
the past two fiscal years to show the flow of money from inmates’ services to the expense the money is
used for. For fiscal year 2020, our office saw $30,238 come in from telephone revenue from inmate calls.
We also took in $51,871 dollars for commissary items bought by the inmates. This amounts to a total of
$82,109 taken in from inmates purchases in these two areas. While Montana Jail Standards only require
us to use the commissary income on inmate services, our detention center uses all this money toward
inmates’ services.
The money taken in from telephone and commissary revenue is placed into a separate account
that is only used for inmates’ services. We also placed additional funds into these accounts to help offset
the high costs of these two expenses. In fiscal year 2020, this included $22,617 from inmates’ medical
payments for services provided, $3,436 for fines and restitution, $800 from SSA Incentive Fees, $1,647
from Miscellaneous Revenue, and $115,888 of revenue from the 24/7 Program. This adds up to only
$226,496 of revenue in this account to pay for inmate services.
The money generated from these funds goes to paying for Operations and Inmate Medical
expenses. Operations covers a wider area of expenses, to include clothing, deodorant, feminine products,
toothpaste, cable television, and sandals. Operations for the fiscal year 2020 cost the detention center
$93,360. Medical expenses for inmates during this time cost $138,473 in operating costs and $304,180 in
staffing costs. The staff costs were partially due to the practice at that time of having traveling nurses
cover shifts within the detention center. This added up to $536,013 of expenses on only $226,496 of
income.
To offset this different, the Sheriff’s Office was required to put in $250,000 of money to pay for
these inmate services. This was still short of the expenses and required the carry over cash of in these
accounts from the previous year to be used to cover the short comings. Even with the addition of this
money into the account, the difference between the income and expenses only resulted in $1,300 of extra
money. When taking into account the additional funds put into the accounts not required by Montana Jail
Standards, inmates paid for $82,109 toward their services while the Sheriff’s Office paid for $453,904 from
other sources of income toward these specific inmate services.
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Fiscal year 2021 only showed a slight different in the numbers. The following are a list of the same
areas of income and expenses from this year:
Revenue
Telephone Revenue: $63,454
Commissary Revenue: $60,673
Medical Payments: $32,680
Fines and Restitution: $1,863
SSA Incentive Fee: $0
Miscellaneous Revenue: $1,647
24/7 Program Revenue: $101,058
Total Revenue: $263,121
Expenses
Operations: $104,218
Medical Operations: $99,503
Medical Staffing: $337,743
Total Expenses: $541,464
As shown by these accounts, the inmate funds were still short $278,343. To help this, the Sheriff’s
Office again put $275,000 into the inmate accounts. Even with this additional income, the inmate
accounts went into the negative going into the next fiscal year.
Current numbers for fiscal year 2022 are looking better for the offset of the expenses paid to the
inmate services accounts, but still are falling short of the amount needed to cover these costs. Below are
the list of the current revenue and expenses paid through the inmate services accounts:
Revenue
Telephone Revenue: $12,287
Commissary Revenue: $32,889
Medical Payments: $35,856
Fines and Restitution: $1,029
SSA Incentive Fee: $0
Miscellaneous Revenue: $1,807
24/7 Program Revenue: $64,709
Total Revenue: $150,489
Expenses
Operations: $67,432
Medical Operations: $51,900
Medical Staffing: $73,741
Total Expenses: $193,073
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As can be seen by the numbers, we are still falling short of the costs and have already moved
$50,000 from the Sheriff’s Office into this account. We are also budgeting to have to move an additional
$50,000 to cover future expenses that will fall short of our revenue.
Regarding the cost of our equipment being put into our building, Turnkey did not charge us any
money for the installation of their equipment during the initial set up. Turnkey also did not charge us for
the installation of the units when the renovation of the detention center was completed.
The detention center does pay a rate of $0.12 per minute of phone call to Turnkey for each call
made. We currently charge a rate of $0.25 per minute to the inmates, which results in $0.13 going to the
detention center per minute of phone use by an inmate. The current contract caps the amount our
detention center can charge an inmate at $0.25 a minute for phone calls.
Any further cuts in the caps we are allowed to charge below our current rate would be a direct hit
on our current budget of the Sheriff’s Office. This may result in having to reduce the services we provide
for the inmates due to lack of available funds. As shown above, our office goes above and beyond what is
required to provide inmates by the Montana Jail Standards that were adopted in 2019. This has been
done in the past with us footing the bill to continue to provide these services at a substantial loss from a
budgetary point of view. However, providing the proper level of inmate services through these funds
helps to maintain a better detention facility and better services for the inmates. This helps keep us in line
with our Mission Statement of providing professional law enforcement services in partnership with the
community.
Missoula County
1. How much money is collected in fees and commissions per month?
MCDF Collects around $10,000 in phone commissions per month.
2. What are the fees used for?
We do not collect fees from our phone calls.
3. What are the commissions used for?
Our commissions are used for a variety of inmate related purposes. They fund buying the inmates
TVs in our dayrooms, hair grooming products, some furnishings like more comfortable chairs and
tables for certain inmate dayrooms, games, books, indigent inmate care packs, bus tickets for
inmates who need travel when released, commissary for certain inmates and other random uses
when needed and appropriate. We purchase clothing for inmates that may need clothing when
they are released. A good example is an inmate arrested in July wearing flip flops, is then released
in January. It is not appropriate to release them without proper winter attire. The most
consistent use of these funds is for Inmate worker pay for an assortment of jobs we have available
for inmates in our jail. These opportunities include kitchen and laundry work, floor care crews,
food service, and cleaning crews. Our payroll for these positions in January was $6500.00.
Commissions allows our jail to provide these items and services that are not required of a facility
to offer. The commissions also allow us to offer these without a burden to the tax payers.
4. If you have an inmate welfare fund, how are those funds utilized?
As described above.
5. Total Budget
$15,310,36
6. We have a total of 392 beds and our pre-covid average population was 365, we average 140 DOC
inmates a day combining a contract unit (MASC) and DOC inmates sentenced out of Missoula
County in our local jail unit. About 38% are DOC inmates.
7. Wiring for phones was part of the original build in 1998. Phone contracts since that start include
costs for installing equipment and hardware. Missoula County negotiates that new install
requirements are at no cost to the County.
8. In the last 10 years, the phone systems/contractors we have utilized provide a robust investigation
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and monitoring system. They also store the calls indefinitely, and allow access to investigators.

Park County
1. How much money is collected in fees and commissions per month?
Approximately $400 - $700 per month depending on phone usage
2. What are the fees used for?
3. What are the commissions used for?
Inmate Televisions, Exercise Equipment, Comfort items such as mattresses with pillows, etc.
4. If you have an inmate welfare fund, how are those funds utilized?
N/A
5. Total budget for your detention facility
$953,447.83
6. Percentage of inmates in your facility who are county inmates vs. state inmates
99 % County
7. How much did your facility pay to have the inmate calling hardware and software installed? What
is the total value of the equipment?
Equipment was installed by the company at no cost.
8. What security measures do you have in place for phone monitoring, data storage, etc?
Security and data storage is maintained by the vendor.
Powell County
1. How much money is collected in fees and commissions per month?
We are currently with Securus for our inmate phone systems. Inmates are currently charged $.045
flat rate per minute for calls. We currently average around $130/month in commissions. We also
sell inmate phone cards of which we realize about 8% return on sales.
2. What are the fees used for?
Deposited into general fund
3. What are the commissions used for?
Deposited into general fund
4. If you have an inmate welfare fund, how are those funds utilized?
No inmate welfare fund
5. Total budget for your detention facility
Operational budget is $453,000 – this does not include staffing
6. Percentage of inmates in your facility who are county inmates vs. state inmates
Currently, 70% of our inmates are being held for DOC
7. How much did your facility pay to have the inmate calling hardware and software installed? What
is the total value of the equipment?
No costs are involved with the inmate phone system. They install and maintain at no cost to the
county.
8. What security measures do you have in place for phone monitoring, data storage, etc?
Storage is web-based, their system is entirely stand alone. We have the ability to review and
monitor calls at our discretion.
Ravalli County
1. Our jail operating budget for FY 21-22 is $1,550,000.00, that’s minus the Jail Commander’s salary
and capital funds.
2. For about the past year, we are running right at 15% of the population being DOC committed
inmates.
3. Securus installed the phone system, both hardware and software at no cost to the county.
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4. We use Securus security for monitoring and data, which is limited to users authorized by me and
password/log in protected in addition to the County’s IT security.

Sheridan County
Temporary Hold Jail
1. How much money is collected in fees and commissions per month?
$0
2. What are the fees used for?
N/A
3. What are the commissions used for?
N/A
4. If you have an inmate welfare fund, how are those funds utilized?
N/A
5. Total budget for your detention facility:
165,833.00 that includes wages
6. Percentage of inmates in your facility who are county inmates vs. state inmates.
State: 0%, County: 100%
7. How much did your facility pay to have the inmate calling hardware and software installed? What
is the total value of the equipment?
We use regular phone system dialed by the officer in booking area. There are no phone recordings
to the phone and there are no phones in dayrooms or cells.
8. What security measures do you have in place for phone monitoring, data storage, etc?
Our deputy remains in the area during the call. There is audio and video recording in the Booking
Area where the phone is located.
Valley County
Looking only at the inmate phone fees does not paint a full picture of the needs, expectations,
requirements and services in a local detention facility. Looking at this from the perspective of fees that a
jail incurs, I would point specifically to legislation on medical payments and costs in local detention
facilities, especially for pretrial detainees. There are medical fees that the county is charged that no one
pays for (i.e. Medicaid, personal insurance, indigent persons). Any amount of “income” from commissary,
phone, video, and the like is placed in the Commissary Fund. These funds are used to pay for the costs
associated with the care of the inmates. They are also used to provide equipment that meets both the
needs and wants while incarcerated. For example, I recently purchased chairs for each pod so they are not
sitting on the hard concrete floor. I also just purchased new mattresses for the inmates from this fund. If
we need new basketballs or puzzles/games we use this fund. We have had damage by an inmate in the
pod where they have broken the TV, so we get a new one from this fund. When we purchase data from
ENCARTEL we pay out of the commissary fund. The inmates have money on their books and when they
purchase data that money goes back to the commissary fund.
Lastly, it costs money to provide this equipment in these small rural facilities. The company we use
provided all the equipment, installation, and maintenance. This service is a benefit to the inmates, it
assists the staff by utilizing a more streamlined format for communication (between DO and inmate),
grievances, commissary, medical kites and allows for communication between the inmate and their family.
I spoke with our contractor for voice and video communications, ENCARTEL. They noted that they are not
a phone company but an App to App communication service (semantics?). We currently sell megabytes of
data to the inmates. For communications purposes 1 minute is equal to 1/3 of a megabyte (approx.) This
works out to $0.18 cents per minute. The inmates can communicate via voice, video, or even a text like
email service to family and friends outside the facility.
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Our current contract shows us receiving 52% of voice communications, and 25% of video/messaging
communications. So, of that 18 cents per minute, we receive 9 cents for a phone call. If it is
video/messaging we receive 4.5 cents per minute.
Yellowstone County
All commissions that YC keeps are used for inmate services that improve inmate services and care, but
aren’t mandatory under MCA. For instance, GED, MH, anger management, etc.
I’m not sure what they mean by fees because YC only receives commissions. Unless they mean the fees
charged by Telmate and then that would be in our contract with them. Let me know if you need a sample
invoice from them with that information.
We don’t have an inmate welfare fund (I’m assuming that is the same as our canteen fund) that has any
commissions included in it. We stopped doing that last fiscal year based on new GASB reporting
requirements.
An average monthly commission for tablets and phone calls is $10,500 or about $125,000 per fiscal
year. We spend much more than that on the services we provide that I mentioned above (GED, MH,
anger management, etc.).

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