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State Reform Profile

Montana

Montana has alarming Native American incarceration disparities. Recent reforms have focused on diversion and tribal justice.

ALTREFORM COMPOSITE76/100

Key Statistics

Incarceration Rate
410
per 100,000 residents
Annual Cost
$32K
per incarcerated person
3-Year Recidivism
62%
reincarcerated within 3 yrs
Racial Disparity
8.3×
Black vs. White incarceration
Alt. Programs
17
active diversion programs
Reform Initiatives
5
tracked by AltReform

Incarceration by Race

MT Overall410
National Avg568
Black (est.)2,042
White (est.)105

Incarceration rate per 100,000 residents. Racial estimates based on BJS/Sentencing Project methodology.

Recidivism Rate

62%3-year recidivism
This stateNational avg: 67%

Percent of people reincarcerated within 3 years of release. Source: BJS recidivism data series.

Cost vs. Alternatives

$32K
incarceration/yr
vs.
~$5K
diversion/yr

Active & Passed Reforms

3 initiatives

Tribal Justice CollaborationView full details →

Partnerships with tribal nations for culturally appropriate justice alternatives.

ActiveDiversion2019
AltReform Score79/100

HB 394 – Marijuana LegalizationView full details →

Legalized recreational marijuana.

PassedDrug Policy2021
AltReform Score76/100

Crisis Intervention TrainingView full details →

Statewide CIT for law enforcement diverting mental health calls.

ActiveMental Health2020
AltReform Score73/100

Data Sources & Methodology

Reform data sourced from state legislative records, BJS Criminal Justice Statistics, the Vera Institute Incarceration Trends dataset, and The Sentencing Project. AltReform prediction scores (0,100) are generated by our ML model trained on 20+ years of state-level reform outcomes, weighting recidivism reduction, racial equity impact, cost-effectiveness, and political feasibility. Statistics are the most recent available (2021,2024).

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