BILLINGS— Billings police are continuing DUI blood draws at the Yellowstone County Detention Facility under a new agreement with the county’s medical provider.
They started doing blood draws at the Yellowstone County DUI Processing Center at the jail on July 1, following a more than year-long pause.
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Police were unable to access blood draws at the jail starting last January, when the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office contracted with a medical provider that did not provide them.
Billings police had previously accessed the blood draws at no cost under the Yellowstone County sheriff’s budget. After the change, all law enforcement agencies were forced to bring offenders to local hospitals for blood draws, where it was more expensive.
“The security at the hospital was not near with the security we have in place already here within our walls,” said Capt. Brandon Smart with the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office.
Billings police estimate they spent $37,240 on 145 hospital blood draws over the past 12 months.
Yellowstone County has signed a contract with a new medical provider, meaning blood draws will resume at the jail, but money for blood draws will come from each law enforcement agency’s budget, instead of the county’s.
“We reworked the contract with our medical provider here at the facility so that they provide blood draws now,” said Smart. “And each department pays reimbursement fees to the county for those blood draws. So, the Billings Police Department, that latest contract that we were talking about earlier, was to pay for those blood draws rather than Yellowstone County itself pays for all of them.”
Billings police will pay $150 per blood draw, instead of what local hospitals charge, $275.
Billings City Council approved this budget change for Billings police in Monday night’s meeting.
Law enforcement uses blood draws to evaluate alcohol content and test for drugs in a person. The Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office, Billings Police Department and Montana Highway Patrol all use the jail for blood draws.
“It gives a centralized place for everyone to come do their DUIs, and it adds to the security aspect of it,” said Smart. “It totally saves money.”
