KALISPELL — A hot button issue in Flathead County regarding a proposed prerelease center in Kalispell has resurfaced again.
The Flathead County Board of Adjustment will host a public hearing on Tuesday, March 25 at 6 p.m. at 40 11th Street West, Suite 200, in Kalispell, regarding a settlement offer from the Montana Department of Corrections (DOC).
The settlement offer comes after the DOC sued Flathead County after the Board of Adjustment denied a conditional use permit for the proposed facility.
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The proposed prerelease center sits on the border of Kalispell and Evergreen on East Oregon Street and has drawn mixed reactions from Flathead residents.
A prerelease center is a residential facility that helps individuals transition from incarceration to community living.
In October, Flathead County Commissioners voted 2-1 in favor of approving a resolution of support for the prerelease center.
The county Board of Adjustment then voted against the proposed facility denying a conditional use permit for the prerelease center.
The DOC then filed a lawsuit against the county.
Attorneys for the DOC state in the settlement offer that two-way traffic is adequate to and from the proposed facility and that the county would be notified at least 10 days prior to the relocation of an offender to the facility.
In a statement to MTN News, Montana Department of Corrections Director Brian Gootkin said "The DOC remains committed to partnering with the community in the establishment of a prerelease center to provide justice-involved individuals, particularly residents of the Flathead area, the support they need to be successful when they are released from prison or as an alternative to incarceration.”
The state currently operates 10 prerelease centers throughout Montana but does not operate one in Flathead County.
The proposed prerelease center would house 90 males and would be fully operated by the Department of Corrections.
The County Board of Adjustment will vote on the settlement offer during a meeting on April 1.
