Judge stops Montana psychiatric facility from breaking ground, orders new environmental study

Opponents of the state’s plans for a forensic mental health facility in Laurel got some good news Wednesday.

Yellowstone County District Court Judge Ed Zink granted a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit brought by the group Laurel CARED, or Community Advocates for Responsible Economic Development.

The preliminary injunction stops construction of the 32-bed psychiatric facility intended to treat and rehabilitate people in the criminal justice system while the lawsuit progresses. The proposed site is located just west of the city of Laurel.

Construction was set to begin next week, according to Laurel CARED member Shawna Hopper.

The state must now conduct another environmental assessment and open it to public comment.

The group’s main concern was whether the state had adequately studied whether Laurel had enough water to serve the facility. The group’s attorney, Liz Forster, said in a phone call with Montana Free Press Wednesday: “There are serious questions as to whether Laurel can host this facility.”

Forster added that an adequate environmental review would give a better picture of the water capacity and prevent the state from spending “taxpayer money to then have a building that has no water.”

Laurel CARED President Jennifer Lorenz said in a written statement that the group was pleased with the ruling.

“It is reassuring to see the state being held to the same laws, regulations and standards that we expect any local, state, or federal agency to follow,” she wrote. “When government undertakes a project of this magnitude, those requirements matter. Environmental review and public participation are not simply boxes to check — they exist for a reason.”

Mental health advocates and the administration of Gov. Greg Gianforte have pushed for the facility’s construction to ease the backlog of people languishing in local jails, awaiting mental health evaluations before they can proceed to trial.

Many locals aren’t opposed to the facility’s purpose. Some even agree that it’s vital. But they felt the process the state used to select the site and forge ahead with its plans wasn’t fair to local residents.

Under Laurel city ordinances, any property that wants to receive city water or sewer services must first apply to be annexed by the city, CARED attorney Forster said. The city is then required to assess its capacity to provide those services and may approve or deny the annexation application.

But without applying to be annexed, no property can receive city water or sewer services, Laurel CARED members have argued in court.

Forster said that the state raised the possibility of using another route to acquire city services: eminent domain, the government’s power to seize property and convert it to public use.

The state only raised the possibility of using eminent domain at a hearing earlier this month, while the lawsuit was filed in June.

In its environmental assessment, the state, in part, cited an earlier engineering study conducted for a Love’s Truck Stop in the area that found there was sufficient water to supply the new truck stop.

But Forster said that city water users now question whether there was, in fact, enough water for the truck stop.

“Since the Love’s Truck Stop started operating, Laurel citizens, including some Laurel CARED members, are having issues with their water pressure and are having to either use their wells or install pumps or whatever, to ensure that adequate water pressure,” Forster said.

MTFP was unable to reach a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services Wednesday evening. DPHHS and the Board of Investments are both defendants in the lawsuit.

Mara Silvers contributed reporting.

This story was originally published by Montana Free Press and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.