HELENA — The Montana Legislature has voted to overturn Gov. Greg Gianforte’s veto of a bill that will pay counties for some of the costs of holding inmates waiting for mental health evaluations or treatment.
67 House members and 34 senators voted to override the veto on House Bill 643 – the exact number required to clear the two-thirds threshold in each chamber.
(Watch the video for more on the impact holding these inmates has on counties.)
HB 643, sponsored by Rep. Tracy Sharp, R-Polson, sets aside $6 million in one-time-only funding. Counties will receive more than $130 a day if they’re keeping someone in their detention center while they’re waiting for placement with the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, in a facility like the Montana State Hospital.
Sharp told MTN he’s heard from multiple counties, who say they’re dealing with a bigger burden from having to hold these people.
“This bill is important to the entire state,” he said.
Lewis and Clark County Undersheriff Brent Colbert is currently serving as president of the Montana Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association. He says the association identified this issue as a major concern going into the legislative session.
“All jails are full right now – no matter what county you're in, they seem to all be full,” he said. “If it was a smaller county and a smaller jail, a person just languishing there for an unknown amount of time would take up quite a bit of resources out of a smaller county.”
Gianforte said in his veto letter that HB 643 would be “an expensive Band-Aid” that wouldn’t solve the underlying issues. He said the Legislature had already taken actions – including fundingimprovements at the State Hospital and construction on a new behavioral health facility – that would help free up spaces.
“Based on legislative investments outlined above and MSH's operational changes, DPHHS expects to significantly reduce the waitlist throughout fiscal year 2026,” he wrote. “Shorter waitlists reduce counties' "holdover" detention burden, making House Bill 643 unnecessary.”
Sharp told MTN the governor and DPHHS had indeed made good progress, but counties still needed support in the short term.
Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton said, at various times, his detention center has held up to 15 people waiting for a DPHHS placement.
“It was coming out of the local funds, and it made it very difficult,” he said. “Other areas that have a much larger detention facility had a more difficult time, but for Lewis and Clark County, we were impacted as well. So the veto override was good for us. I know it's a temporary issue. We still need to work on it, but it will help.”
This is the second bill this year that the Legislature has enacted into law over Gianforte’s veto. The first put money into a new state account that would help Colstrip pay for a water system if the power plants there closes down in the future.
