A Montana judge recently ruled that a jail built as a money-making scheme for the city of Hardin could accept prisoners from other states. This ruling overturned the opinion from the Montana Secretary of State that said jails could not contract with other states to incarcerate prisoners. Since the Secretary of State’s decision, the $27 million jail has been empty, and the city defaulted on payments on construction bonds.

The jail was built as a joint project between the city and a Texas company as an economic development project. Representatives from Hardin are now soliciting other states and counties for people to fill the jail.

This new brief is based on a story in the Great Falls Tribune, Judge: Hardin jail can take out-of-state inmates [1]. If the link is broken, check the newspaper’s archives.