Legislators press DOC for program-level costs, ask auditors to review contracts

Helena — Members of a Montana legislative subcommittee asked Department of Corrections staff to produce program-level cost estimates, beginning with the agency’s HiSET education program, and said they will pursue further review of DOC contracts, including food contracts that members said appear to favor nonlocal vendors.

The request to cost individual programs was made during an informal work session the panel described as a day to ask questions and “do clean up.” Chair Nee told members she and staff met with DOC officials and asked them to start by documenting the full cost of routine programs — class materials, staff time, inmate movement and capacity limits — and then move to rehabilitative programs such as drug treatment and offender training.

The committee emphasized that the initial deliverable should be precise program costs so legislators can later do cost‑benefit analysis. “What am I getting for that money? How well is it working is gonna be a next step,” Chair Nee said.

Members pressed DOC staff for details about the agency’s contracting choices. Senator Morgeau and Representative Hock said they had heard the department’s food contracts had shifted away from local Montana suppliers to a national distributor (named in committee discussion as “Cisco”), a change they said can harm local farmers and ranchers. Senator Morgeau asked that the contracts be examined in the interim and suggested an audit item to review DOC contracting practices.

Committee staff demonstrated a contracts listing on the Department of Corrections website and said facility-level and medical services contracts appear there. A staff member shared that the website’s contract reports can be a starting point for identifying which agreements cover food and other services.

No formal action or vote was taken on contracting during the session. The committee scheduled a work session with DOC for Monday to review initial costing materials and said it expects to take executive action on DOC matters Tuesday.

Members asked DOC to provide follow-up documentation and to call legislators with questions while they prepare the costing reports. The committee also said it will compile any cleanup adjustments to budget figures and report back next week.

Ending — Committee members agreed to continue the work in the interim if necessary, and several asked auditors to include contract review as a possible audit topic.