GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) - Cascade County is suing the Montana Department of Corrections in a dispute over payment for the cost of holding state inmates in the county’s regional jail.
The two sides disagree about who is responsible for the $69 daily cost for inmates who have been sentenced to prison but face separate felony charges.
A 2016 contract said the state was responsible for housing inmates awaiting transfer to a state facility unless the inmate was being held on bond for another felony charge.
When the county raised the issue last summer, the DOC cited state law that says the arresting agency is responsible for jail costs.
The county is seeking nearly $767,000 for inmates held since July 2017.
Both sides declined to comment on the lawsuit filed this week.
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