Despite pushback from neighbors, state officials made a final decision to build the 32-bed hospital on the edge of Laurel’s city limits.
The 114-acre parcel has been the subject of a nearly yearlong tussle between residents and state officials, and Gov. Greg Gianforte promised in December 2025 that a facility would not go where it’s unwanted.
Defendants will be evaluated for whether they’re fit to stand trial at the facility. Nearby residents argued it will be at least as dangerous as a jail, and too close to an elementary school and residential housing.
“Commenters have presented no data demonstrating that siting a forensic mental health facility within any given proximity to a school causes adverse impacts or effects to the human environment,” a state report released last week said. “A prison, by contrast, is part of the correctional system and exists to securely confine people who have been criminally convicted and sentenced.”
Officials from the Montana Board of Investments and the Department of Public Health and Human Services, which will run the facility, detailed their rationale in the 289-page report.
The battle to keep the state from building the psychiatric facility right outside Laurel has led to the ouster of the mayor who resigned after residents launched a signature-gathering recall effort. They alleged Dave Waggoner worked behind the scenes to draw the facility to Laurel.
Residents have vowed to fight the decision in court and tried recruiting the Custer County Board of Commissioners to join a future lawsuit. The Custer County Commissioners turned down the offer, citing concerns of costs — Miles City in Custer County was one of two communities (along with Hardin) that submitted proposals for the facility.
State officials said they chose Laurel because of its proximity to the interstate, and Yellowstone County — the state’s largest by population — has more need for forensic mental health evaluations.
State law tilts toward the state, not the county
The Laurel City Council has struggled to find ways to block plans since the parcel is technically on county land, bordering city limits. Yellowstone County Commissioner Chairman Mark Morse has also been a critic of the state’s plans, saying it hasn’t answered safety questions, and asking why officials didn’t select other sites that wanted the facility.
Since the state bought the land, it renewed its request for a zoning change. The parcel, which has been used in agricultural production, had also been targeted by Laurel city leaders for housing.
The proposed zoning request will change the designation to “government use” — allowed nearly anywhere. While the county may hold a zoning change hearing, attorneys from the state and county said there’s nothing to stop the change.
Laurel residents also raised objections to the stress the facility could place on water and sewer systems. Officials countered the facility would place significantly less stress than the dozens of houses the city said should go there instead.
The facility is slated for 32 beds but could expand to 64.
State law and a business agreement may render the zoning issue moot.
Last year, Laurel voted to annex land around an Interstate 90 exit for a Love’s truck stop. In order to get the truck stop connected to city services, Love’s agreed to run the municipal service at a cost of more than $2.5 million on the condition that any development done on county land between the business and city connect to Laurel services and pay a prorated portion of the costs back to Love’s. The psychiatric facility land is covered by the Love’s Truck Stop agreement.
A change during the 2025 Legislature could also factor in.
Montana House Majority Leader Steve Fitzpatrick, R-Great Falls, successfully pushed through House Bill 629, which said if property comes within 1,000 feet of any municipal services the development must connect to municipal services, regardless of whether the land is within city limits.
The state’s case
State officials have focused on Yellowstone County for a number of reasons. In addition to being the state’s largest county, it has been the most affected by the state’s backlog.
The only state forensic facility is in Galen, Montana. Transporting prisoners to and from Galen from Yellowstone County is more than 250 miles and takes nearly eight hours roundtrip. Two-thirds of the patients admitted to Galen from east of the Continental Divide come from Yellowstone County. Put another way: The average number of people waiting for psychiatric services in Yellowstone County is more than all other eastern counties combined.
State officials have said that building a facility elsewhere would recreate the transportation problem.
“The forensic waitlist has directly contributed to the dismissal of criminal charges on due process grounds” — at least 24 known cases in 2024 and 2025, according to the report. “Each dismissal represents a safety risk if the underlying criminal conduct is attributable to untreated mental illness …The proposed facility enables the criminal justice process to move forward appropriately, protecting both defendants’ rights and community safety.”
On Tuesday at a news conference in Billings, Gianforte was asked by media outlets at least twice whether he was concerned by Laurel residents’ opposition.
He responded, “No.”