Bill to authorize forensic mental health facility east of Big Timber draws urgent testimony about jail backlogs and transport burdens

The House Human Services Committee heard extensive testimony in favor of House Bill 912, a proposal to authorize construction of a minimum 70-bed forensic facility in the eastern half of Montana and to appropriate $60,000,000 from an identified account to start the project.

Missoula County Attorney Matt Jennings and a coalition of county attorneys, sheriffs and prosecutors told the committee long waits for court-ordered forensic evaluations and for competency restoration beds at the Montana State Hospital (Galen/Warner Springs) are causing local detention populations to swell, delaying criminal cases and producing dismissed prosecutions.

Jennings described the policy rationale and historical context: "We did effectively deinstitutionalize places like the Montana State Hospital decades ago, but we failed to come up…