Inmate visitation at the Cascade County Adult Detention Center is suspended immediately, pending an investigation into a drug smuggling incident on Feb. 9 and repairs to the visitation area, Sheriff Jesse Slaughter said during a Feb. 13 press conference.

A member of the public entered the visitation area at the jail around 5:23 p.m. Feb. 9 and somehow made a small hole through the glass and was able to pass methamphetamine, fentanyl and suboxone strips to an inmate in the jail, he said.

Visitation by family and friends is only available on the weekends and Slaughter said that lawyers and necessary professionals will still be able to visit inmates.

Slaughter said the cost to repair the holes in the glass in two of the visitation tables isn’t expensive, but has rendered the area unusable for the time being. It’s unclear which pane was damaged in the Feb. 9 incident.

Detention staff was able to locate the inmate with the drugs and recover drugs, but Slaughter said they don’t know how much was passed through the visitation glass and if any was passed to others, but there were no noticeable overdoses over the weekend.

CCSO is authorized for 90 detection officers, but Slaughter said he cut seven vacant positions to balance this year’s budget, and they’re down about 20 corrections officers.

CCSO has made a number of efforts in recent years, including increasing pay, to recruit and retain correction officers.

Slaughter said drug smuggling at the facility is “nothing new” and over the last year, there had been 19 smuggling operations, including attempts and successes.

It’s “pretty common” and an “ongoing problem,” he said.

Slaughter said it’s difficult to manage the issue since Montana Supreme Court decisions and state law limit the ability of jail authorities to search inmates during booking and while incarcerated.

Slaughter said state law prevents strip searches for misdemeanors and that the body scanners in the jails don’t always catch drugs within a person’s body or cavities.

Slaughter said CCSO had launched a criminal investigation into the incident with the drug task force and believed charges were likely, but it was early in the investigation.

Slaughter said he felt bad for the families that wouldn’t be able to visit loved ones for the foreseeable future due to the incident and “you can thank your local drug dealers.”

He said they’re looking at increased metal detector usage and stricter policies for visitors.

Currently, there is a metal detector for visitors and cameras along the hall leading to the visitation area, as well as two cameras in the area with outside visitors, but no cameras in the area where inmates sit during visits. There are cameras in the hallway leading to the visitation rooms on the inmate’s side.

Jail officials said they aren’t sure how the holes were made to pass drugs through the window in the visitation area, but they’ve been repaired before and will be repaired again.

CCSO has detection dogs and Slaughter said he discussed expanding their use during a command staff meeting on Feb. 13. He said they’ll be using their current canines more within the jail and are researching further detection dog options.

In the Feb. 9 incident, Slaughter said it was a visitor that brought the drugs into the jail to pass to an inmate, but oftentimes, drugs rings bail out those detained on misdemeanor offenses, give them drugs and send them back into the jail.

Last year, two people were charged in connection with smuggling drugs into the jail via mail.

Makenna Rose was charged after placing Suboxone strips and other drugs into mail made to look like legal documents and mailing them to Curtis Lee Babbitt, who was incarcerated in the county jail on an federal charge at the time.

In January 2024, a man was charged for smuggling drugs into the jail on his person that caused overdose symptoms for a member of the nursing staff and two detention officers.

In August 2024, a woman was charged for bringing drugs into the jail, causing three inmates to overdose and several others were under the influence.

In July 2019, 15 people were charged in a drug smuggling ring at the jail.