On May 18th, 2026 - 

• There were 154 persons in custody at the Lewis and Clark County Detention Center - 22 were female, and 132 were male (figure 1). 

• The average age of persons in custody was 38 years old. Fifty-five persons were between the ages of 35 and 44, about one-third of those in custody, and another 47 were between the ages of 25 and 34 (figure 2).

• Seventy-seven percent of persons in custody were White, 13% were American Indian or Alaska Native, 3% were either unknown or Asian, and 2% were either Black or Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (figure 3). 

• Sixty-two persons in custody were arrested by the Helena Police Department and 51 were arrested by the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office (figure 4). 

• Over one-third, (42%) of most serious offenses were classified as violent offenses. Twenty-two percent were public order offenses, 19% were property crimes, 9% were other cases, and 7% were drug offenses (figure 5).

• More than half of persons custody reported being employed (61%) (figure 6). 

• Slightly less than one third, (30%) of persons reported 1-2 health concerns. Thirty-two percent had 3-4, 14% had 5-6, and 6% had 7 or more health concerns reported (figure 7).

• Eighty-one percent of all persons in custody reported at least one health concern at intake. Forty-five percent of persons in custody take prescription medication, 44% reported a diagnosed mental illness, 28% noted current illicit drug use, 27% have allergies to food or products, and 18% have disabilities requiring accommodation or open wounds (figure 8).

• More than half of the in-custody population, (57%) reported having medical insurance; 75% of those insured reported being on public insurance such as Medicare or Medicaid and 11% had a form of private insurance (figure 9).

• There were 102 individuals held on a bond, with a median bond amount of $25,000. Bond amounts ranged from a low of $500 to a high of $1,250,000 (figure 10).

• The median length of current stay among the in-custody population was a little longer than 2 months (69 days). There are 9 people who have been in custody for longer than one year (figure 11). 

• Slightly over three-quarters (82%) of the in-custody population was being held pretrial. Another 10% are convicted and 8% are in custody due to parole or probation holds or violations (figure 12). 

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Figure 11.

Figure 12. 

Average daily population (ADP) is a metric used to describe the general number of persons held in custody in the detention center over a given period of time. It is calculated by summing the total number of persons held in custody at midnight each day by the total number of days in a month. For example, the total persons that were in custody at midnight each day of April summed to 4491, and 4491 divided by 30 (the number of days in the month) is approximately 150. Therefore, the ADP in April was 150.  

• The ADP in the detention center generally declined each month from April 2025 (147) to December 2025 (121) (figure 1). It has since increased to 150 as of April 2026, the highest it has been in the past year. The detention center has a capacity of 166. During this period, the highest percentage of the detention center’s capacity that was occupied was 90% and the lowest was 73%. The most recent national statistics from 2023 found that 73% of jail beds were occupied, and 72% of jail beds were occupied in jails that were similarly sized to the Lewis and Clark County Detention Center.

Figure 1.

• From April 2025 to April 2026 the largest average daily populations (ADP) by race were White (monthly ADP ranging from 99-120), American Indian and Alaskan Native (AIAN) (9-17), Unknown (5-11), Black (3-6), Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) (0-2), and Asian (0-2) (figure 2). 

• The ADP for White persons in the detention center was highest in April 2025 (120), declined to a low of 99 in December, and then increased again to 120 in April 2026. The ADP for American Indian and Alaska Native persons has increased consistently since September 2025, from a low of 9 to a high of 17 in April 2026.   

Figure 2. 

• The ADP for males in the detention center generally declined during 2025 from 124 in April 2025 to a low of 94 in December before rising to its highest level in a year to 125 in April 2026 (figure 3).The ADP for females remained more stagnant during 2025, ranging from 19 to 27 each month, and increased to its highest level in January 2026 (32).The ADP for those with an unknown gender was less than 1 each month.

Figure 3. 

• Figure 4 contains the total number of persons booked in the detention center and persons released from the detention center each month from April 1st, 2025 to April 30th, 2026. Generally, the number of bookings and releases trended in the same direction each month, with similar numbers of people entering and leaving the detention center. Bookings and releases peaked at 268 and 250, respectively, in July 2025. Both metrics then reached lows of 178 and 175, respectively, in February 2026. The number of bookings and releases do not necessarily translate to higher average daily population in the detention center (seen in figure 1) because the length of stay for persons in custody may vary. There were 196 bookings and 200 releases in April 2026.

Figure 4.

• Examining annual bookings in the Lewis and Clark County Detention Center compared to bookings in all jails nationally, there are similar trends. Figures 5 and 6 below show the total number of admissions per year going back to 2018, with Lewis and Clark County data being as recent as 2025 (figure 5) and national data being as current as 2024 (figure 6).There was a 23% drop in the number of bookings in the county between 2019 and 2020, but the number increased in 2021. Nationally, the number of bookings dropped 16% from 2019 to 2020 and then continued to fall from 2020 to 2021 by another 21%. Jail admissions nationally have been consistently increasing each year since that low point in 2021; however, the number admitted in 2024 was still lower than the total admitted in 2018 through 2020. Admissions in Lewis and Clark County stabilized from 2022 to 2024 and then reached pre-pandemic levels in 2025.

Figure 5. 

Figure 6. 

Behavioral Health Encounters Each Month

• Since February 2023, there have been 7,312 behavioral health encounters in the Lewis and Clark County Detention Center (figure 1). The lowest number of encounters during this period was 44 in October 2023; this was during a time when the number of behavioral health staff decreased from 4 down to 2 staff. It wasn’t until July 2024 when 2 more staff – specifically permanent behavioral health therapists - were added back to the team and the number of encounters began to increase dramatically. From July 2024 to December 2025, the number of encounters that occurred each month quadrupled from 99 to 424 during this period. In April 2026, the detention center was again down to only 2 members of behavioral health and care coordination staff. There were 269 encounters in April 2026, a 36% decrease from December's high number. 

Figure 1. 

• There are two main types of behavioral health services offered in the detention center – behavioral health therapy and care coordination. Behavioral health therapy encounters include crisis stabilization, de-escalation, and therapeutic interventions. Care coordination encounters aim to assist individuals with successful transitions to the community. Staff advocate on the client’s behalf, facilitate access to needed services, guide clients through community resource options, and assist clients in reducing barriers to community reintegration upon release. During this period, there have been fluctuations in the service type delivered that coincided with reductions and increases in staff. There was only one temporary behavioral health therapist on staff from January to June 2024, resulting in low numbers of therapy encounters during this time. Throughout the first half of 2025, there were similar numbers of encounters for both types of services (between 90 and 130 encounters of each per month), and then in June 2025 the number of behavioral health therapy encounters started to increase. In April 2026, there were 198 behavioral health encounters and 71 care coordination encounters (figure 2). 

Figure 2. 

• For all months during this time, more male clients were seen per month than female clients. However, the differences have fluctuated (figure 3). When there was a drop-off in behavioral health staff in 2023, it primarily impacted the number of men seen per month. From September to October 2023, the number of men seen dropped from 147 to 28 (an 80% decrease) while the number of women decreased from 40 to 16 (a 60% decrease). Following the mid-2024 increase in staff, the gender gap again widened. In late 2025, the number of male and female clients peaked, with a high of 272 male clients and 152 female clients seen in December. There have never been more than 15 total persons seen in a month who identify as transgender or non-binary and for about 75% of months in this period, zero transgender or non-binary persons were seen. 

Figure 3. 

This section contains information about the types of behavioral health encounters recorded by staff in the detention center during 2025 and the characteristics of unique clients who received behavioral health services during the calendar year. There were 3,223 encounters with 391 unique clients.

All Behavioral Health Encounters

• The number of behavioral health therapy sessions delivered in the detention center increased throughout 2025, rising from 83 encounters in January 2025 to 285 encounters in December 2025 (figure 1). The number of care coordination encounters was more stable during the year, with the fewest encounters occurring in August (86) and the most in November (150).

Figure 1.

• More men were assisted as part of behavioral health services in 2025 than women, however the number of sessions working with both increased steadily throughout the year (figure 2).

Figure 2.

• About two-thirds (68%) of all behavioral health encounters in the detention center lasted 15 minutes or less (figure 3). Five percent of encounters lasted more than 45 minutes.

Figure 3.

• Ninety three percent of all care coordination encounters were 30 minutes or less (figure 4). Behavioral health therapy encounters were more likely to last longer, with 17% being 31 minutes or more.

Figure 4.

• Following 84% of all behavioral health encounters, a client was determined to require continuing services (figure 5). 8% were discharged and were to remain in jail following the encounter. Less than 2% were discharged and released back to the community following the encounter.

Figure 5.

Behavioral Health Therapy Encounters

• In care coordination encounters, staff are often not addressing specific mental or behavioral health needs. Therefore, addressing a known diagnosis may not be part of the encounter. This section considers only behavioral health therapy encounters as these are conducted by a therapist with knowledge of the clients’ medical history. The most common diagnosis treated during a behavioral health therapy session was listed as “other” (29%) which may have included a wide variety of mental or behavioral health diagnoses (figure 6). The next most addressed issue was a mood disorder, which 18% of all encounters were related to.  The least commonly treated diagnoses were anxiety disorder (5%) and post-traumatic stress disorder (5%).

Figure 6.

• There were differences in the diagnoses treated in behavioral health therapy for men and women (figure 7). While an “other” diagnosis was most common for both, for women the next highest diagnosis treated was a mood disorder (32% of all encounters). For men, a depression diagnosis was the second most common (23%). Men were twice as likely to be treated for a schizophrenia diagnosis (16%) than women (7%) and women were twice as likely to be treated for PTSD (9%) than men (4%).

Figure 7.

• There was a substantial increase in the number of behavioral health therapy encounters related to depression at the end of 2025, rising from 26 in November to 112 in December (figure 8). The number of behavioral health therapy encounters treating mood disorders also increased during the year, rising from a low of 11 encounters in April up to a high of 53 in July and then remaining between 35 and 48 per month during the rest of the year.

Figure 8. 

Behavioral Health Clients

• In 2025, there were a total of 391 unique clients that received behavioral health services in the detention center – 72% were male, 28% were female, and less than 1% were transgender men (figure 9). Females comprised a greater percentage of behavioral health clients than their representation in the detention center population generally (about 20% of the custody population but 28% of clients). These 391 clients received 3,223 sessions or encounters with staff during 2025. The range of encounters with staff ranged from a low of one session per client to a high of 91 sessions with a single client.

Figure 9.

• Most clients (82%) were white, 9% of clients were American Indian or Alaska Native, 4% had an unknown race, 3% were black, and 1% or less were either Hispanic or Latino, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, or Asian (figure 10). The racial breakdown of behavioral health clients is the same the in-custody population during 2025, where while persons were 81% of the average daily population and American Indian or Alaska Native persons were 9% of the average daily population.

Figure 10.

• Of those with known educational attainment, half (51%) reported their highest educational attainment was a high school diploma (figure 11). About one in five (22%) had completed less than a high school diploma.  Twelve percent of clients had attained any kind of college degree (associate’s, bachelor’s or graduate degree).

Figure 11.

• Nearly half (49%) of all unique behavioral health clients with a known employment status were unemployed, 36% were employed, and 15% were otherwise out of the labor force (retired, disabled, students, etc.) (figure 12).

Figure 12.

• Thirty-two percent of clients were living in a private residence independently prior to their incarceration and 26% were homeless (figure 13). About one third (34%) had an unknown or other housing situation prior to incarceration.

Figure 13. 

Lewis and Clark County Detention Center Programs in 2025 

• In 2025, there were 420 unique programs delivered within the detention center to 3,966 program attendees (figure 1). 
• One third of all program attendees were female (1,302 participants) and two-thirds were male (2,664 participants) (not shown in figures).
• The library, a physical space within the detention center where individuals can check out books to bring back to their housing units, was open 124 times during the year (an average of 10 times per month) and library visitors comprised 66% of all detention center program attendees during the year (figures 1, 3).
• The number of program attendees increased during the year, from a low of 257 attendees in February to a high of 415 attendees in November. From January to December, there was a 17% increase in attendance (figure 2).
• There were 150 different recovery and wellness support programs – Alcoholics Anonymous (67), Narcotics Anonymous (61), and sponsor visits (22) – offered in 2025 that served 481 attendees (figure 1).
• Twenty-one percent of all participants during 2025 attended spiritual and cultural programs (figure 3). 
• Females comprised half of all participants in Narcotics Anonymous programs, 70% of Alcoholics Anonymous participants, and 100% of all sponsor visits in 2025 (figure 4). 

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• On April 23rd, 2026, there were 47 individuals actively assigned to the Post-Adjudication Supervision Services (PASS) Program (figure 1).  These individuals had 56 active cases monitored as part of the PASS program. Individuals assigned to PASS doubled from May 2025 (20 persons) to October 2025 (40 persons), with the program reaching its highest ever levels of participation in February 2026 (47 persons). 

Figure 1.

• On April 23rd, 2026, there were 298 individuals actively assigned to pretrial services (PTS) in Lewis and Clark County with 376 active cases (figure 2). Active individuals and cases are those for which PTS had been assigned, the person is on pretrial release and is actively being monitored by pretrial service officers. These numbers do not include persons and their cases that have been assigned to PTS who have not been released from the detention center. It also does not include other cases a person may have pending that were not assigned and are not being actively monitored or tracked by PTS. Since April 2025, there have been between around 275 and 300 individuals in the community at any given time who are actively part of the PTS program.

Figure 2.

• Actively supervised PTS cases that were assigned a Public Safety Assessment (PSA) score that are disposed within each quarter of the year are examined for two measures of success: 1) did the individual attend all required court appearances for the assigned case and 2) was the defendant not arrested on any new charges during the pretrial period. For these cases, the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) completes a background check for the defendant and determines if they qualify as a successful case. These metrics do not include persons in Lewis and Clark County who were not assigned to PTS, such as those released pretrial on their own recognizance or those who posted bond, or persons supervised on PTS who may not have received a PSA score. For tracked cases closed from January 1st, 2026 to March 31st, 2026, 94% made all court appearances and 71% remained law abiding (figure 3).
• The percentage of persons who made all court appearances and were law abiding changed from previously published statistics because the Department of Criminal Justice Services has continued to close out historical cases that previous did not have disposition details entered. Since 2023, the highest rate of court appearances has been 100% (cases disposed during January 1st, 2024, to March 31st, 2024) and the lowest was in quarter one of 2023 (83%). During all of 2025, 92% of cases with a PSA that were supervised by PTS had defendants who made all their court appearances (figure 3). 
• During the past three years, the percent of cases with clients who remained law abiding while supervised on pretrial release has ranged from a low of 67% to a high of 87%. Seventy-one percent of cases disposed during the first quarter of 2026 had no new criminal arrests (figure 3). 

Figure 3. 

• There were 57 cases that had been assigned a PSA, were monitored by PTS, and were disposed during the period of January 1st, 2026 to March 31st, 2026 (figure 4). These results only represent cases in which a criminal history check has been completed and results of that check entered along with the case disposition. Pretrial officers will continue to closeout cases disposed during this period over future months, so these numbers are subject to change. Of these closed cases, persons were either released pretrial (48 persons) or they remained in detainment throughout the entirety of the pretrial period (9 persons). For those 48 released, success was measured in two ways – all court appearances were made and the individual remained law abiding. There were 14 persons who had new criminal offenses during the pretrial period (29% of cases). Of these, 5 had a new misdemeanor offense and 9 had a new felony offense.

Figure 4.