We need to talk about the proposed forensic mental health facility and our children's safety.
As parents at West Elementary, we're facing a situation that should concern every family in Laurel. The state plans to build a 32-bed forensic mental health facility just 459 yards from our children's school—and the details should alarm you.
What is a forensic mental health facility? This isn't a general mental health treatment center. It will house individuals currently in the justice system who are awaiting mental health evaluations to determine if they're competent to stand trial. These are people whose freedoms have been taken away by the courts.
Why this matters: Earlier this year, West Elementary experienced a student safety incident that revealed gaps in protocols - gaps partly driven by funding and resource constraints. The school has taken this matter extremely seriously and implemented improvements. But those improvements require resources that Laurel struggles to provide. The Laurel School Board opposes this facility, recognizing the inappropriate proximity to elementary students and the additional strain it places on already-stretched resources.
Laurel is already being exploited. State decisions and untaxed energy monopolies like NorthWestern Energy extract value from our community while leaving us under-resourced. NorthWestern built their methane plant here despite lacking proper zoning approval, and now provides no meaningful tax revenue to address the impacts on our infrastructure and services. The state follows the same pattern: take what you need from Laurel, provide nothing in return, ignore local concerns.
The property deal raises serious questions. Miller Trois LLC, connected to prominent Billings attorney Malcolm Goodrich, has owned this 114-acre property since 2008—a 17-year hold. Laurel officials said they submitted no proposal because we had no suitable city land. Yet somehow the state selected this specific private property just outside our city limits. Local officials learned about the plans from news reports, not from the state, despite promises of transparency.
How was this property identified? When did discussions begin? Why this specific parcel held for 17 years by a real estate attorney's LLC?
This isn't Laurel's first transparency problem. Our newly appointed Chief Administrative Officer, Kurt Markegard, was Planning Director during the Northwestern Energy methane plant controversy. In that case, NorthWestern Energy built a 175-megawatt gas plant despite lacking proper zoning approval to change the land from "agricultural" to "heavy industrial." The city and county played jurisdictional hot potato while the company built anyway—asking for "forgiveness rather than permission." Now Markegard has even more authority over city operations, and we're seeing the same pattern: unclear processes, lack of transparency, and decisions that seem predetermined regardless of public input or proper procedure.
We need transparency from our CAO. Kurt Markegard may well be a dedicated public servant with nothing to hide. If that's the case, he can demonstrate it by voluntarily releasing his tax documentation for the past 7 years and disclosing his business interests. While Montana law doesn't require municipal officials to provide this transparency (unlike state officials who must file disclosure statements), the pattern of opacity around major projects affecting our community makes voluntary disclosure a reasonable request. Transparency builds trust—refusal to provide it raises questions.
Laurel gets zero benefit and all the risk. Because the facility sits just outside city limits:
This creates foreseeable tragedy. The state knows about our school's safety challenges. They know the facility will house justice-involved individuals. They know elementary school children will be 459 yards away. If something happens—and we pray it doesn't—this documented awareness establishes state liability.
What can we do?
I support mental health treatment. This isn't about stigmatizing mental illness. This is about transparency, appropriate site selection, and protecting our children. A forensic mental health facility should not be 459 yards from an elementary school—especially one with documented safety challenges.
We deserve answers. Our children deserve safety. Laurel deserves transparency.
If you share these concerns, please speak up. Contact the governor. Attend meetings. Demand accountability. Our silence means consent.
Matt & Elizabeth Gilg
Parents, West Elementary School
Related: Governor Gianforte: Your Form Letter Proves You Don't Care About Our Children
Related: Formal Complaint to Montana Commissioner of Political Practices
Related: Inside the push for Laurel to be picked as the state's forensic mental health facility (Billings Gazette, Jan 30, 2026)