BUTTE — The parent of an inmate in the Butte jail expressed to county officials concerns about the small portion sizes and lack of nutritional value of food being served to inmates.
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“And he is calling in agony because he is not being fed proper portions or anything with substantial nutritional value in his food,” Concerned parent Cat Holley of Butte said.
Holley told the Butte Council of Commissioners recently that her stepson Timothy Holley, who has been in jail for the past month, has complained about the food along with other inmates. She worries this could cause disturbances in the already overcrowded jail.
“That puts the people that work here in danger, it puts the inmates in danger, it’s completely unnecessary,” Holley said.
For the past three years, the jail has had a contract with Community, Counseling and Correctional Services in Butte to prepare food for the inmates. It costs $18.50 to feed one inmate three meals per day. The food is delivered to the jail and distributed to inmates by jail staff. Sheriff Ed Lester said the food meets the required nutritional standards.
“It may not be as much as the inmates want, but it is adequate, and, if you look at it, many of those folks they eat better in jail than they did out on the street,” Sheriff Ed Lester said.
Food complaints from inmates at the Butte jail are nothing new. It was a factor in a disturbance at the Butte jail on a hot August day in 2024, when police responded to the jail after inmates damaged some property and refused to go into lockdown.
An inmate at the time told MTN News they were served one hotdog, a bun and a tablespoon full of noodles. The sheriff described it as a minor incident that was resolved without injury.
“When you take 140 people or 130 people and lock them in a facility that they don’t want to be in, you’re going to have complaints about lots of things,” Lester said.
The sheriff added he will address the complaint that there is sometimes more than 14 hours between breakfast and dinner being served.
Holley understands jail is not supposed to be pleasant, but she said it shouldn’t be cruel.
“This does not take away from the level of love and respect that I have for everybody doing their jobs. It's just an unfortunate situation that we find people who are incarcerated are falling into these areas and gaps,” Holley said.
