Montana State Legislature
SJR 25
Senate Joint Resolution No 25: Study Use of Solitary Confinement
The 2017 Legislature recommended a study of the extent of the use of solitary confinement in state and county institutions when it enacted Senate Joint Resolution No. 25 (SJ 25). Legislators ranked the study 13th out of the 20 study resolutions in the postsession poll of interim studies. The Legislative Council met June 6 and assigned the study to the Law and Justice Interim Committee (LJIC).
The LJIC will study the issue during the 2017-2016 interim and expects to conclude with its study work no later than September 15, 2018. Study documents and any findings or recommendations, including those contained in bill drafts, will be posted to this page.
Staff Reports
- SJ 25 Study Plan -- adopted September 2017
- Background Paper: Definitions and Data on the Use of Restricted Housing Nationally and in Montana
- Background Paper: Review of Restricted Housing Standards and Guidelines (Sept. 2017 version)
- Report: Corrections Policies and State Prison Procedures Related to Locked Housing
- Report: Solitary Confinement and Juveniles
- Report: Montana Detention Standards
- Report: State-Level Changes and Alternatives to Restricted Housing
- Proposed Topics for the SJ 25 Final Report
- SJ 25 Final Report
Other Reports and Related Documents
- Aiming to Reduce Time-in-Cell -- Liman Progam at Yale Law School and the Association of State Correctional Administrators, November 2016
- Time-in-Cell -- Liman Progam at Yale Law School and the Association of State Correctional Administrators, August 2015
- Administrative Segregation, Degrees of Isolation, and Incarceration -- Liman Program at Yale Law School, June 2013
- Montana Detention Standards, 2016 update, Montana Association of Counties and Montana Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association
- Toolkit: Reducing the Use of Isolation -- Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators
- ACA Restrictive Housing Performance Based Standards, August 2016 -- American Correctional Association
- Restrictive Housing Status Policy Guidelines and Guiding Principles -- Association of State Correctional Administrators
- Colorado Department of Corrections administrative segregation reports
- Reshaping Restrictive Housing at South Dakota State Penitentiary -- Crime and Justice Institute
- Administrative Segregation: State Enactments, January 2018 -- National Conference of State Legislatures
Study Resources
- Montana Department of Corrections policy homepage
- DOC Policy 3.4.1 -- Offender Disciplinary System (9-9-2016 version)
- DOC Policy 3.5.1 -- Locked Housing Unit Operations (9-9-2016 version)
- DOC Policy 3.5.1 -- Locked Housing Unit Operations (3-28-2018 version)
- Montana State Prison procedures homepage
- MSP Procedure 3.4.1 -- Institutional Discipline (1-4-2017 version)
- MSP Procedure 3.5.1 -- Locked Housing Operations (10-25-2013 version)
- Montana Women's Prison procedures related to SJ 25
- Detention center peer review materials from the Montana Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association
- Letter: Department of Corrections to the LJIC re Restricted Housing -- July 2018
