BUTTE – An inmate was found dead from an apparent suicide at this facility that’s been dealing with overcrowding and lack of staffing for years.
Learn more about the staffing challenges at the Butte-Silver Bow Detention Center:
“It’s a stressful time in the facility right now, so we’re doing the best we can, and nobody in this line of work wants to see anything like this happen,” Butte Sheriff Ed Lester said.
Staff at the Butte Detention Center found a 45-year-old man dead in his cell the morning of Aug. 30th. The state’s Division of Criminal Investigation is taking over the case.
At the time of the inmate’s death, there were about 130 inmates in the jail with a staff of about 24 corrections officers.
“Yeah, it’s a facility that certainly maxed out at times, and right now our staff is better than it has been at some points in time, but we’re about five detention officers from being at full staff,” Lester said.
The sheriff said the victim was an inmate who had been in the jail for the past several months and was not on suicide watch.
“Sometimes an inmate will express concern to the staff, or sometimes the staff will pick up that the inmate’s not acting like they normally are. In this case, we didn’t have any indication of any of that.” Lester said.
The sheriff didn’t release the identity of the victim Monday, only to say he was from out of state. No further details were released about the incident while it was being investigated.
