Judicial branch seeks pretrial funding, two judges for Yellowstone County amid overcrowded jail

Chief Justice Corey Swanson and Supreme Court staff told the House Appropriations Subcommittee D the Judicial Branch requested funding to continue a multi‑county pretrial services program and to add judges for Yellowstone County.

Dave McAlpin, court administrator, described the pretrial program as two parts: a Helena‑based assessment team that compiles risk and background information for judges and county-level monitoring that supplies supervision and testing for participants. McAlpin said the program provides tools that many counties lack and that the statewide office gives consistency and access to criminal‑justice databases needed for assessments.

The subcommittee approved two judges for Yellowstone County (the branch had requested three) and discussed pretrial funding. Judge Collette Davies, joining by phone, urged restoration of pretrial funds and explained the program’s local impact: “Yellowstone County Detention Facility has 645 inmates in there in a facility that was built to accommodate 434 folks,” she said, adding that pretrial monitoring and ankle‑monitor subsidies preserve community safety while keeping lower‑risk defendants out of jail.

McAlpin told lawmakers the program’s annual cost largely flows to participating counties; he provided a per‑county breakdown in committee testimony and said some counties receive assessments from Helena at no cost. Committee members asked for more particulars about program deployment and performance measures; the Supreme Court said it would furnish additional reports and implement a specialization study for the new judgeships to explore docket and resource efficiencies.

The judicial branch also flagged several pending bills that would create new workload and carry unbudgeted price tags; the chief justice asked lawmakers to consider those possible obligations during final budget decisions.