BILLINGS — Yellowstone County Commissioners voted Tuesday to place a jail expansion measure on the November 2026 ballot, moving forward with plans that have been discussed for years.
The proposed expansion would more than double the current jail capacity by adding 512 beds, with options in the future. The cost is estimated at $227 million for more jail space. The proposal would also include an additional $15 million levy for operations.
Commissioners discussed a cost of around $240 million for the jail expansion and operational levy meeting last month, though exact costs for homeowners are still being determined.
Watch officials talk about the need for a larger jail:
“This problem has been kicked down the road long enough,” Yellowstone County Commissioner Mike Waters said at a meeting on Tuesday.
Waters emphasized that public safety is their top priority.
“We need to expand jail capacity to give our voters and our constituents a safer community,” Waters said.
The current Yellowstone County Detention Facility routinely operates at overcapacity, creating difficult decisions for judges and law enforcement about who gets admitted and who must be released.
“We don't want anybody that's unsafe to be in our community and on the streets,” Waters said. “All of that has challenged the population of our jail. And we just are at a point where we have to do something.”
Billings Police Chief Rich St. John said Yellowstone County’s population grows at about 3% annually, while the current jail cannot accommodate everyone who needs to be there.
“This facility routinely operates at probably 100% over capacity, which is not safe for staff. It's not safe for inmates. Certainly, affects our ability to do our job when we can't get people in jail,” St. John said after attending the commissioner's meeting.
St. John cautioned that despite a recent addition at the facility for low-risk inmates, more needs to be done.
“It's a microcosm of what can be done with a bigger facility," St. John said. "And I don't want people to think, well, things are good now, so we don't need anything later because things can change very quickly as they did a few years back.”
