Governor Gianforte Tours Riverside Correctional Facility in Boulder

Governor Gianforte Tours Riverside Correctional Facility in Boulder

Highlights $246 million investment to improve and build corrections facilities

• September 05 2025

BOULDER, Mont. - Continuing his 56 County Tour in Jefferson County, Governor Greg Gianforte and last week toured the Riverside Facility in Boulder to recognize the latest investment to improve Montana correctional facilities and expand capacity.

"As part of our effort to address the need for more prison capacity in Montana, the Department of Corrections is utilizing historic funding and innovation to house inmates and meet demand," Gov. Gianforte said. "By expanding capacity at our corrections facilities, we're able to ease pressure on our county jails and ensure safer communities."

Gov. Gianforte touring the Riverside Corrections Facility in Boulder

Earlier this year, the Montana Department of Corrections (DOC) moved 50 female inmates from Montana Women's Prison in Billings to the Riverside Facility in Boulder after undergoing minor renovations. Prior to the move, the facility held 25 male inmates of old age who were moved to the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge.

Touring the renovated facility with DOC Director Brian Gootkin, the governor heard more about the facility and plans for expansion.

"The DOC is constantly evaluating its facilities to determine how they can best be used to manage our inmate population and ensure were being good stewards of taxpayer dollars. The latest move of 50 female inmates to Riverside does just that - undergoing minor renovations to accommodate the new population while easing pressure on our county jails," Gootkin said.

With the Montana Women's Prison in Billings at capacity, the decision to utilize the facility in Boulder eased pressure on county jails where many inmates had been waiting for transfer for months.

The DOC indicated that the Riverside campus, with its existing infrastructure, offers the agency to not only increase capacity at the facility, but to explore new, innovative programming options such as reunification of incarcerated mothers and their children, along with reentry services not available in the current correctional environment.

The facility also has space for the construction of another building that DOC estimated could hold up to 60 more female inmates.

With funding available through House Bill 833, passed by the 2025 Montana Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Gianforte, the DOC was allocated $246 million through the Future of Corrections Fund to address capacity and facility updates.

The governor's visit to the Riverside campus comes on the heels of the groundbreaking of a historic $156 million project for more housing units at the Montana State Prison.

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