Montana
Ravalli County Jail Diversion Program is Reducing Recidivism and Creating Community
93%
Compliance Rate
8,100+
Monitored Days
Montana
Compliance Rate
Monitored Days
93%
Compliance Rate
8,100+
Monitored Days
Ravalli County, a rural community of 40,212 citizens in southwestern Montana, faces significant challenges with alcohol-related crime. Montana's DUI occurrence rate is 1.68 times the national average, and the state recorded 419 alcohol-involved traffic fatalities and serious injuries in 2016 alone. The Ravalli County Jail Diversion Program within the Sheriff's Office is working to change these statistics through pretrial and probation monitoring of offenders.
Sheriff Steve Holton and Jail Diversion Program Administrator Christina Ellsworth oversee a comprehensive diversion program that utilizes SCRAM Continuous Alcohol Monitoring (SCRAM CAM), SCRAM Remote Breath, and SCRAM GPS in conjunction with a 24/7 sobriety program. The program monitors offenders charged with DUI offenses, domestic violence, assault, and violent crimes while keeping them accountable in their community at a significantly lower cost than incarceration.
One year into this successful program, Ellsworth has seen recidivism drop while community partnerships and support has grown. The program has become a model for other Montana counties, with multiple law enforcement agencies seeking to replicate its success.
"They have started to send anything alcohol related to the 24/7 program. A large majority of our crime, alcohol is a component."
— Sheriff Steve Holton
"Montana is known for its drinking culture. We are trying to change that. We are creating outcomes that show a positive impact to the community."
— Christina Ellsworth, Program Administrator
"We were able to tell the community, 'yes they may be out of jail, but we are able to track them.' That gave peace of mind to parents, teachers, and staff. This was a great GPS success story for us."
— Sheriff Steve Holton
"The SCRAM support staff are very friendly people. They dive in and give me detailed info and answer any questions I have."
— Christina Ellsworth, Program Administrator
Montana has a drinking and driving occurrence rate 1.68 times the national average. Ravalli County courts began sending all alcohol-related offenses to the 24/7 program, recognizing that alcohol is a component in a large majority of local crime, including DUI, domestic violence, and assault cases.
Of participants in the 24/7 program, 47% of those assigned to SCRAM CAM and 39% of those assigned to SCRAM Remote Breath are repeat offenders with a DUI 2, DUI 3, or higher DUI offense. Breaking the cycle of recidivism requires continuous accountability and monitoring.
The Diversion Program operates with only a two-person staff, creating challenges in managing 24-hour-a-day monitoring responsibilities. The low staff-to-client ratio made it difficult to track compliance, respond to violations, and handle routine client communications without additional support.
The Diversion Program has been fully self-funded since its inception, receiving no county funding or monetary support. Sheriff Holton began the program specifically to save the county money on the high cost of incarceration while still maintaining public safety and offender accountability.
Reduce Alcohol-Related Crime and Recidivism
Lower drinking and driving statistics in the county while reducing the recurrence of aggravated and violent crime through consistent pretrial and probation monitoring of offenders.
Enhance Public Safety While Reducing Incarceration Costs
Track offenders and hold them accountable at a significantly lower cost than county incarceration, allowing participants to remain active in their communities while maintaining public safety.
Build Community Partnerships and Trust
Create outcomes that show a positive impact to the community while building relationships with employment services, treatment providers, and county citizens who support offender accountability and successful re-entry.
Ravalli County implemented a comprehensive electronic monitoring program utilizing multiple SCRAM devices and services to address their diverse supervision needs.
SCRAM CAM provides continuous transdermal monitoring via ankle bracelet, testing for alcohol consumption around the clock. The Diversion Program assigns SCRAM CAM to offenders post-sentencing, with most participants placed on alcohol monitoring for one to two years. Ravalli County has assigned 63 SCRAM CAM bracelets in the last year with 8,100 monitored days recorded.
SCRAM Remote Breath monitors offenders through breath testing three to four times per day on a set or random schedule. This solution is used pre-adjudication in alignment with 24/7 program parameters. When sentencing takes place, offenders are transitioned to SCRAM CAM for continuous monitoring. The program achieved 19,949 scheduled tests passed with a 93% compliance rate.
SCRAM GPS provides electronic monitoring for offenders charged with violent crimes or those who have violated protection orders. When the county experienced multiple school violence threats in 2018, GPS high-risk monitoring allowed the Sheriff's Office to reassure the community that offenders were being tracked, providing peace of mind to parents, teachers, and staff. High-risk offenders spend an average of 80 days being monitored.
SCRAM Customer Service representatives assist in tracking compliance and violations, providing the detailed information program staff need to manage their caseloads effectively. This support is essential for programs operating with limited staff resources.
Off-hours support and live phone calls to clients help manage non-emergency actions like charging and maintenance alerts. This saves valuable staff time and allows the program to operate efficiently despite a low staff-to-client ratio.
"When they call clients directly and leave messages about non-emergency actions like charging and maintenance alerts, it saves me so much time."
— Christina Ellsworth, Program Administrator
Electronic monitoring enables the county to track offenders and maintain accountability at a significantly lower cost than incarceration. The fully self-funded program demonstrates that effective supervision can be achieved without additional county budget allocation.
The Ravalli County Jail Diversion Program has achieved measurable success in its first year of operation:
"Our biggest problem is trying to keep up with the demand because we have grown so much."
— Sheriff Steve Holton
"Our community of employment services and treatment providers has grown quite large. Providers like communicating with government officials and getting information on a timely basis."
— Christina Ellsworth, Program Administrator
The next phase of the program includes gathering and aggregating all data on SCRAM CAM, SCRAM Remote Breath, and SCRAM GPS clients. Program staff believe the data will show a significant decline in recidivism across types of offense and level of offender for all monitoring devices used.
Note: Specific dollar figures for cost savings were not available in the source material. The program is described as fully self-funded and cost-effective compared to incarceration, but exact savings amounts are not provided.