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Lewis and Clark County Commissioners weigh jail standards document

Posted at 7:17 PM, Sep 25, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-26 09:55:14-04

HELENA -At their Tuesday meeting, Lewis and Clark County Commissioners tabled for further review a new jail standards document that will help guide the facility into the future.

Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton says his office already follows the standards and practices laid out in the 70-page document.

It covers operational practices on everything from solitary confinement and medical care to inmate meals, exercise and how to address inmate grievances.

The standards were developed using Montana Association of Counties suggestions and recommended by the county criminal justice coordinating council and the citizens advisory council.

The jail will also be inspected to ensure it is meeting the standards laid out in the document.

Sheriff Dutton says it is an important guiding document with the upcoming jail expansion.

Sheriff Leo Dutton, Lewis and Clark county says “In 10 years somebody could walk in here and say they don’t want to do that. Without the binding regulations that we’ve all agreed to, they could do that. It’s best to have it in a county rule, that that’s how we’re going to operate.”

The document addresses each of the best practices recommended by the citizens advisory council in an April 2015 report.

You can see the document here.

Reporting by Mercedies Pruneda for MTN News

*09/26/2018 This story was corrected to reflect that the jail standards document has been tabled and did as not accepted at the meeting.