Missoula County Sheriff's Office to Move Near Jail

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) – Missoula County announced Tuesday that part of the sheriff's office currently located at the courthouse will be moved to a recently purchased facility across from the detention center.

I spoke with Missoula County Executive Chris Lounsbury about this upcoming measure.

Parts of the sheriff's office will move to a location on Mullan Road

“We're purchasing a building that was formerly the old probation and parole building, right across from the detention center on Mullan Road, and that will give us the ability to co-locate the sheriff's department's patrol and detective functions next to the detention center to make it a little easier for them to supervise that staff of just over 100 people.”

Lounsbury said the move had been planned for a long time and provided financial details.

The $2 million cost of the facility is already fully funded

“We had already planned to build this building before the pandemic, but not this particular space,” he said. “Thankfully, it came back on the market. The building itself cost about $2 million and was part of our capital improvement plan, so it’s coming from a mix of money that the county set aside for that, as well as some money from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Then the only real thing that’s going to have to happen before the sheriff’s department can move in is we’re going to have to install security cameras and some minor modifications to create a lobby for them. So we’re hoping to have them there by spring or summer of next year.”

Lounsbury said some functions will necessarily remain at the Missoula County Courthouse.

Some aspects of the sheriff's office will remain at the county courthouse

“It's primarily the sheriff's administrative offices and the detectives and the patrol division, which are currently housed on the second floor of the courthouse, that will be moving, but the other side of that function, which is the civil side directly related to the courts, related to things like warrant processing or civil documents, will remain in the courthouse so that people who interact with the courts don't have to leave the building to go somewhere else.”

Lounsbury also detailed which agencies will remain downtown.

LEARN MORE: Missoula News – Crime Reports

“We'll keep the civil functions here, adjacent to the courthouse, and that will give us the opportunity, when they leave this space, to bring the rest of the judicial functions related to district court, preliminary hearings and juvenile court into the courthouse, to make it a little easier for people as they move between court departments.”

The county had planned to buy the building in 2018, but its bid was outbid at the time.