Last week construction began on the new short -term holding facility next to the Yellowstone County Detention Facility (YCDF). The $6 million project is a collaborative solution by Yellowstone County and the City of Billings to address overcrowding at YCDF. It will provide a means of jailing offenders while they wait for arraignment. The two-story facility will house inmates for 72 hours – inmates who in the past have not been incarcerated because there was no room in the jail. The facility designed by Schutz Foss Architects Foss is being built by Sletten Construction and is expected to be completed in 13- 15 months. County Commissioner Mark Morris said that the contractors wanted to begin construction as soon as possible in order to have concrete poured and walls up before it snows.

The operation of the short term facility depends upon the establishment of an arraignment court which is currently in process. Justice of the Peace David Carter is in the process of training the two full time employees who are needed to manage the arraignment court.

Management of the holding facility will fall to YCDF. That it will require a couple more full time staff is sort of a moot point, according to Morse, because they are always trying to hire personnel  and are generally 13-14 short of being fully staffed.