KSJD Local Newscast - November 21, 2024

The Montezuma County commissioners have given the go-ahead to contracting with a Colorado firm to conduct a detailed analysis of operations of the sheriff’s office starting in January. The board voted 3 to 0 at their meeting Tuesday to have KRW Associates do what Administrator Travis Anderson called an organizational, financial and budget analysis. The cost of the analysis was not stated. The move comes 2 ½ weeks after Sheriff Steve Nowlin asked for a supplemental budget request of about $240,000 for wages and benefits. The commissioners have not decided on the request, but instead asked for more information on what the sheriff’s office should be spending. Anderson said KRW Associates has the resources to do the analysis, with one of their staff having run the largest sheriff’s office and jail in Colorado. Anderson did not return a phone call from KSJD seeking details, but the firm’s website lists one associate as having retired in 2020 as administrator for the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, which is the state’s largest. Nowlin has said that without the budget supplement, he will have to furlough some employees, who will likely then leave for other jobs. At their workshop Monday, the commissioners told Undersheriff Tyson Cox they are working diligently to fix the situation. Commission Chair Jim Candelaria said he wants to tell sheriff’s employees “don’t live in fear, we will figure this out.”