7-32-2201. Establishing detention center — detention center contract — regional detention center — authority for county to lease its property for detention center. For the confinement of lawfully committed persons, the governing body of a county may participate in or undertake one or more of the following:

Terms Used In Montana Code 7-32-2201

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Detention center: means a facility established and maintained by an appropriate entity for the purpose of confining arrested persons or persons sentenced to the detention center. See Montana Code 7-32-2241
  • Detention center administrator: means the sheriff, chief of police, administrator, superintendent, director, or other individual serving as the chief executive officer of a detention center. See Montana Code 7-32-2241
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
  • Multijurisdictional detention center: means a detention center established and maintained by two or more local governments for the confinement of persons arrested or sentenced to confinement or a local government detention center contracting to confine persons arrested or sentenced in other local governments. See Montana Code 7-32-2241
  • Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
  • Property: means real and personal property. See Montana Code 1-1-205
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201

(1)A detention center may be built or provided and kept in good repair at the expense of the county in each county, except that whenever in the discretion of the governing body of two or more local governments it is necessary or desirable to build, provide, or use a multijurisdictional detention center, they may do so in any of the jurisdictions concerned. The multijurisdictional detention center must be built or provided and kept in good repair at the expense of the local governments concerned on a basis as the governing bodies agree.

(2)A county or two or more local governments acting together may provide for the detention center allowed by subsection (1) by:

(a)establishing in the county government the position of detention center administrator and hiring a person, who is answerable to the governing body of the county, to fill the position or appointing the sheriff as detention center administrator; or

(b)entering into an agreement with a private party under which the private party will provide, maintain, or operate the detention center.

(3)The detention centers in this state are kept by the detention center administrators of the local governments in which they are situated. In the case of a multijurisdictional detention center as provided in subsection (1), the detention center must be kept by the local governments using the detention center on a basis as the governing bodies agree.

(4)The board of county commissioners has jurisdiction and power, under limitations and restrictions that are prescribed by law, to cause a detention center to be erected, furnished, maintained, and operated. The costs must be paid for out of the county treasury.

(5)The board of county commissioners has the power to lease to any person or entity any real or personal property of the county necessary or appropriate for use as a detention center. A lease of property entered into under this section must be for a period not to exceed 40 years.

(6)A county or two or more local governments acting together may enter into a lease-purchase agreement with a person or entity for a period not to exceed 20 years for the construction, furnishing, and purchasing of a detention center.