US county jail population decreases

"I was watching this trend and I asked, ‘Why is this happening?’ There's a myriad of different reasons. I can't give you one reason, except we have attacked a lot of small systems that have made an overall impact on the mission."

According to Taylor, those reasons include:

Work release inmates - currently 57 in total - are now housed on the campus of the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo, although they're technically county inmates.

Department of Correction inmates are spending less time in county jail.

Previously the jail housed 25 to 30 DOC prisoners who were awaiting transfer to a state facility; the jail now sees about five DOC prisoners a week.

Darlene Alcala

The speedier transition is due to a new DOC administration, Taylor said.

The DOC is moving inmates out a lot quicker than they used to."

Parole violators, too, are spending less time in jail.

Darlene Alcala, chief of the detention center, said that the construction of the Cheyenne Mountain Re-Entry Center in Colorado Springs has trimmed the number of parole violators they'd receive weekly from 20 to about five.

Fewer community correction violators, or DOC inmates living in halfway houses, are being sent to jail.

"We didn't want to become the disciplinary wing for them," Taylor said.

Alcala said that in past years the jail would accept halfway house inmates who violated conditions of their sentence, some as simplistic as failing a drug test.

"Sometimes these guys would be in our jail for two months. That's what our problem was," Alcala said.

By working with the court system and district attorney's office, the sheriff's department is finding the proper holding facilities for suspects and inmates with mental health issues.

Reclassifying inmates within the jail based on their violence and criminal backgrounds has reduced congestion in the jail.

"I can't stress enough how important that was," Taylor said of the new protocol, adding many of his deputies openly opposed the move. "They fought me left and right on the classification system."

An example Alcala used on the success of the revamped classification is that only six inmates are currently housed in the maximum-security wing compared to 48 in years past.

The population decline has made the jail safer for both inmates and officers. Taylor didn't have data to show if the population decline has had a positive or negative effect on violence and overall crime, but, "common sense tells me it's down."

There are drawbacks, however:

It costs the county $80,000 a year to house work-release inmates at the state hospital.

Aside from a few months that they were housed at the county jail in late 2006 and early 2007, Taylor said the program traditionally operated at CMHIP under the supervision of eight deputies.

Having the 50-plus inmates consume a pod only at night and on the weekends - their cells were empty 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the weekdays - wasn't an efficient use of space, Taylor said.

By housing fewer state inmates for shorter periods, Taylor said his department is missing out on a state paycheck.

The DOC pays county jails to house their prisoners until they can be integrated into a state facility.

"There are county jails out there who want DOC inmates," Taylor said.

That revenue would go into the county's general fund and the same revenue path exists for housing suspects under investigation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement federal agency.

Taylor said his department doesn't have a contract with ICE to house inmates for immigration purposes.

If someone is arrested on criminal charges and the person's citizenship is questioned, Taylor said that person will remain in county jail until the end of his court proceedings, then he's turned over to ICE agents within 72 hours.

"My stance is this: My first responsibility is to the citizens of Pueblo County. Secondarily, if I can help out the state and generate revenues for the county that's a plus - but not at the expense of either my officers or the safety of my inmates. That's a hit I'll take," Taylor said. "Although we have more room, I am more interested in opening up the jail to issues that the city is having."