The number of inmates in the Montezuma County Detention Center is likely to be increasing.
Sheriff Steve Nowlin told the county commissioners at their meeting Tuesday that local judges have informed him they’ll be less likely in the future to approve bond reductions or personal-recognizance bonds for defendants.
“I was told a lot of the senior judges in metro areas released quite a few prisoners and there was an outcry by the public,” Nowlin told KSJD.
“So the local judges don’t want that to happen here.”
They’re also concerned about giving medical releases to inmates in order for them to obtain surgical or other procedures that can’t be done locally.
“The judges told me they had three people in the past six months who were given PR bonds to get the medical procedure and they had a return date to be back in court” but then failed to show up, Nowlin said.
“When they release them on a PR bond for medical procedures, they’re not in custody, but signed a promise to appear,” Nowlin said.
It’s a complex situation, because inmates who need a medical procedure and aren’t allowed to get it could sue the jail and the county if they end up being hurt by the lack of medical care.
Now, judges are saying they want an actual order or prescription from a medical doctor saying the inmate has to have a particular procedure, and explaining whether it needs to be done right away or can wait until after the case is over.
“It puts me in a situation where I’ve got to keep tabs on these people so we can get them back,” Nowlin said.
Montezuma County’s detention center has a capacity of 104. As of Tuesday, it had 60 inmates, Nowlin said, but the new policy could send the numbers much higher.
The news comes amid concerns over the jail’s budget. Nowlin told KSJD food costs “are going through the roof” along with costs for utilities, inmate medical care, and other items.
He may increase the reimbursement costs for housing inmates, but that probably won’t help much.
Dolores County and local municipalities pay Montezuma County to house inmates brought in on their charges – meaning municipal charges in Cortez or the towns, or county charges in Dolores County.
They currently pay $100 per inmate per day to Montezuma County, according to Nowlin, who told the commissioners he may raise the cost to $150.
However, most inmates are brought in on state charges and the state does not pay reimbursement.
“If they are charged under state charges, there is no reimbursement,” he explained.
The state only reimburses the county for inmates who have been sentenced to prison but have not yet been transported to a Department of Corrections facility.
“Until DOC accepts them, they’re still being housed here, so the state pays reimbursement, but they only reimburse half the cost,” Nowlin told KSJD.
“The jail is there to protect the community from accused or sentenced inmates,” he said. “The state requires this county to have a jail, but doesn’t help pay for it.”
The jail concerns aren’t unique to Montezuma County.
In neighboring La Plata County, the commissioners voted on Nov. 26 to send a letter to the city of Durango saying the county is terminating the agreement to provide jail services to the city.
“If a new agreement is not reached in the next month the city will not be able to house municipal offenders in the county jail beginning Jan. 1, 2025,” said the city in a press release. “Those who break state and federal laws in the city would still be taken to jail. Municipal codes are largely low-level offenses like illegal camping that do not often require jail time unless an offender repeatedly fails to appear in court, or repeatedly offends."
According to the City of Durango release, however, there is a downside to not having municipal offenders be able to be housed in the county jail.
"The city has seen great success in using the potential consequence of jail time as an incentive to have municipal offenders show up for court and gain access to resources that keep them from repeat offenses," the release states.
