A lot has changed since 2001 when the location for the Montezuma County Detention Center changed from the 48-bed facility to the 104-bed facility in the same building where the sheriffs office is located at 730 E. Driscoll St.
The old jail facility has since been converted to be The Bridge Emergency Shelter.
The new jail concentrates on three specific goals safety, security and control.
Vici Pierce, the detentions lieutenant for the Montezuma County Sheriffs Office, who has worked in the old and current jail for 18 years, said the new jail was definitely needed.
The 104-bed capacity does not include the seven holding cells that each can hold up to five inmates, she said. The holding cells are separate from the rest of the cell blocks and is next to the booking area where photos and fingerprints are taken.
Pierce said the average capacity at the jail ranges from 90 to 120 people, but added people are often arrested and released the same day and those often are held in one of the holding cells. New inmates are often placed into the holding cells for 24 to 48 hours for their assessment or if staff knows bond money is on the way.
The jail also classifies its inmates into three categories high risk, medium risk and low risk and tries not to mix the prisoners with a different classification. The color of the inmates jump suit depends on the risk category to help detention officers easily recognize the risk factor of every inmate.
Pierce said there is also a priority risk for inmates for crimes like sexual offenses as well as those who may pose a threat of committing suicide. Inmates of this type are often placed into a holding cell with large windows, so officers can keep a closer eye on them.
She said it is important to separate the sex offenders from the general population because of the possible assaults that could occur from other inmates.
We have different units we put them in, she said.
On Thursday Oct. 19 the jail had 101 inmates, 85 men and 16 women. She said the jail normally ranges between 16 to 25 women.
PRE-TRIAL SERVICES
One way the jail has been cutting down the number of incarcerations is with pre-trial services or alternate sentencing, which involves bond decisions mandated by the court. This service started Jan. 1, 2012.
Pierce said this type of sentencing could include specific ankle monitors, staying in touch with law enforcement on a daily basis and alcohol testing, which is where the ankle monitors come in to play. The monitors let law enforcement know where the person has visited and whether that individual has consumed alcohol, which can be tested off site with advanced technology.
She said the ankle monitors go through a website and an individuals blood-alcohol content can be measured in this way through the persons perspiration.
She said the pre-trial services results in fewer failure to appear court hearings. Sgt. Garet Talley, who is in charge of the pre-trial services department for the jail, said in a typical week he may see 35 people.
Talley added there are two inmates on work release where they are allowed to leave the jail for work, but must return to the jail at the end of the work day, and another two are on home detention where they are confined to their residence.
In 2011 there were 1,945 incarcerations at the county jail, which was 111 more than 2010 with the average stay being between 25 and 26 days.
Sheriff Dennis Spruell said he thinks pre-trial services has been a great tool and hes looking forward to looking at the 2012 year-end number.
We dont want to build a bigger jail so more people will come, he said. We dont want recidivism.
Spruell said it costs the jail $54 a day to care for one inmate whether that be for meals, medical needs, housing or other things.
A LOOK AT THE JAIL
There are eight cells in every unit at the county jail, with the bunks in Units E and F being an open dorm from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. for offenders who are convicted of minor crimes like a first-time driving under the influence. These inmates are looked at as lower risk to jail staff. There are 20 beds in these two units.
Pierce said detention officers do a walk through of the jail every 45 to 60 minutes, and the cells can be watched remotely in the control room or in Pierces office, so if an emergency were to occur she has the opportunity to view the situation.
She said the most time an inmate can spend at the detention center is three years, though she doesnt remember an inmate spending that amount of time at the jail. Pierce said judges decided where a person will be incarcerated whether that be the Colorado Department of Corrections or the county jail, never a combination of the two.
Most of the inmates housed in the detention center are bonded out soon after being brought in to the facility, she said.
She also said there are programs and classes in place to help inmates be successful once released and those include earning general equivalency diplomas and anger management.
The jail also has a chaplain available to help inmates who seek spiritual guidence while inside the jail.
The chaplain helps them with their religious needs. He is not there to call mom, but is there for some of their religious needs, Pierce said.
Inmates are served three meals a day at 8 a.m., noon and 4:30 p.m. and kitchen staff works with the diets and religious requirements of the prisoners.
In 2011, 122,446 meals were served by the kitchen with the average cost being 88 cents each for supplies and $1.52 each when adding in salaries, food costs and operating costs.
JAIL OFFERINGS
Pierce said while the jail may not have all of the amenities available that a prison might have, the county jail provides basic cable television. She added the facility is kept extremely clean.
We do not want to make it a country club, but it is not a dungeon, Pierce said.
The jail has a commissary for the inmates, but anything purchased has to be paid for by the prisoner, and the only sporting activity available is handball.
Pierce said the jail offered basketball in the past, but the number of injuries such as foot and ankle sprains resulted in her discontinuing the activity.
The only inmates allowed outside are those on work release or those who are allowed to work on road gangs or maintaining the outside grounds at the sheriffs office.
Most of the inmates work in some fashion, be it the kitchen, laundry or on an outside work crew. This keeps inmates busy and it also reduces their jail sentence by 12 days a month for one month of work.
For example, if an inmate was sentenced to 30 days in jail and worked eight hours a day while incarcerated the time served would be reduced to 18 days.
There is a courtyard that is fenced in with chain link and barbed wire, but is only used when or if an evacuation is necessary, Pierce said.
We do not offer them a lot, she said. Its a disciplinary (institution) that should be able to teach them a lesson.
Pierce said the jail should be unpleasant enough to convince inmates to not reoffend once released into society because they do not want to return.
We do not want this to be a place where they want to come back, Pierce said.
PREP WORK
Much of the work by jail staff is done before the inmate is escorted to a cell.
Prisoners are patted down for contraband before being taken to the nurse practitioners office where they are patted down once again.
There are surveillance cameras in the nurses office, and inmates are handcuffed to a bench while she handles paperwork. The handcuffed bench is to ensure she remains safe.
If an intoxicated person is dropped off at the jail with a blood-alcohol content of .30 or above they will be sent to the hospital to be cleared before being transported back to the jail.
Prisoners will also be finger printed with newer technology and will have their booking photo taken before being put into a cell.
Spending time in jail is not a free ride, as many of the needs prisoners receive must be paid by them.
Inmates are responsible for the $30 booking fee as well the bonding charge, and they also are charged for any phone calls they make.
Prisoners on medication need to tell staff and also are responsible for paying for the medicine. The jail is not responsible for any pre-existing conditions.
The jail does have a nurse practitioner on duty, though Southwest Memorial Hospital is used for the more serious illnesses.
We do not want the jail to be a free stay, the lieutenant said.
WORKING AT THE JAIL
Pierce said the training to become a detention officer for the county is not difficult.
Certified detention officers, she added, have the authority to make arrests so they provide the jail staff with one more important aspect.
She said the training is 16 weeks long with an additional 40-hour detention course where they will learn about such things like the use of pepper spray and Tasers.
The first area a new detention officer will be stationed is at the control center, which gives them an idea if this is really the job for them since they will have a view of everything that is going on in the jail.
Pierce said the starting salary of a detention officer is $30,000 a year, but the job is not for everyone.
It takes a special kind of person to be a detention officer, she said. Its very busy and stressful. You need to be able to handle the stress.
She said working in a jail is a different world where so many unforeseen things can happen.
Its not just a job and paycheck, she said. Its a duty.
michaelm@cortezjournal.com