Montana Code Ann. § 2-15-2012

The legislature recognizes that incarcerating offenders carries an extremely high cost and may not be the most effective strategy for restoring victims, reforming offenders, and reducing recidivism. It is the intent of 2-15-2013 to divert appropriate offenders who are at low risk for violence from incarceration to community programs based on restorative justice and to divert funds from the department of corrections to the department of justice to support an office of restorative justice and to support community programs based on restorative justice.