COUNTY BEAT: Sheriff’s office works to dispel jail misinformation

• 

COMMUNICATION ISSUES

Elected officials, staff and law enforcement personnel from all three local government entities filled the county courthouse Monday to discuss the recent closure of the Justice Center/jail. RBC Sheriff Anthony Mazzolla announced the closure in September 2021 at the beginning of this year’s budget cycle. Since that time, the subject has been revisited in detail on multiple occassions as part of the normal budget process, and because of public scrutiny.

Despite these discussions, RBC commissioners felt that the other entities affected by the closure needed a more detailed explanation, hence this week’s meeting.

• 

• 

• 

Attendees representing the Town of Rangely and the Rangely Police Department spoke about a lack of communication from both the Sheriff’s Office and the Commissioners. 

“We’re not working together, elected officials need to communicate,” said Rangely Trustee Tim  Webber. Rangely Mayor Andy Shaffer reiterated Webber’s remarks, stating, “communication hasn’t been good at all.” County officials, including Sheriff Mazzola, responded by noting that the problem is a “two way street,” but expressing a desire to improve communication moving forward.

• 

Rangely Police Chief Ti Hamblin shared his department’s frustrations with the closure, mostly related to increased time and cost associated with transporting inmates to Moffat County. He said of 16 arrests made since the jail was closed on Oct. 11, nine were transported to Moffat County. The other seven arrests, which may have normally led to jail bookings, were released. Hamblin said releases happened when Moffat County jail reported a full jail. He noted, however, those seven instances were mainly minor issues like outstanding traffic violations that would not have required incarceration. Hamblin added that Moffat County Sheriff KC Hume has been great about accepting inmates “when it’s been really important.”

Sheriff Hume also attended the meeting to provide context from the perspective of the Moffat County Jail. He described how COVID restrictions have impacted jail booking times and capacity. Even if the jail has plenty of beds available, it may not have capacity to book a large influx of people, as new inmates have to be tested for COVID and, if necessary, isolated before entering the general jail population. These efforts to mitigate COVID outbreaks in the jail have been taken more seriously after the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the Weld County Sheriff for allegedly failing to protect the jail population from contagion. 

Hume disputed the claim of the jail turning away inmates. He said the jail has and will accept anyone coming in, with the caveat that only a certain number of people (5) can use the booking/testing/isolation facilities at once. COVID restrictions aside, Hume pointed out a general reduction in the jail population overall, because law enforcement is using more discretion about who needs to be arrested and detained long term. “We’re seeing that more in Moffat as well with the Craig Police Department and Colorado State Patrol where they’re citing people more often than not,” said Hume, describing them as people who “they have a reasonable belief are going to show up to court and do the things they need to do.”

• 

LEGISLATION, REVENUES, COSTS

Following comments and concerns from meeting attendees, Sheriff Mazzola reiterated that he did not want to close the jail, but a variety of financial factors motivated the decision. “Our revenues are declining; we do not have the money,” said Mazzola, explaining that just like other department heads and elected officials, he cut 5% of actual expenditures in 2020, which meant losing one patrol deputy. As part of this year’s budget cycle, and efforts to make additional cuts of around $75K, Mazzola said he would have had to cut patrol again even though he was already short staffed. Shutting down the jail instead made the most sense from a “fiscally conservative” perspective, according to Mazzola. 

He also explained his reasoning for not discussing the closure with other local law enforcement agencies before going public with the information, describing efforts to avoid a “mass exodus” from the jail staff, which he said happened anyway. Mazzola acknowledged that he could have communicated better.

RBC Undersheriff Jeremy Muxlow shared additional reasoning behind the decision. On top of declining revenues countywide, the jail’s internal revenue stream has been declining at the same time operational expenses have been increasing elsewhere in the department. Recent state legislation was cited as the cause of these financial woes for rural law enforcement agencies. As an example, state Senate Bill 217 added requirements related to body cam footage and compliance with Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) requests in a timely manner, among other responsibilities. These changes meant the sheriff’s office needed additional staff just to comply with legal requirements. 

• 

Legislative changes have also reduced many misdemeanor crimes to petty offenses and generally placed restrictions on who deputies can detain, which means fewer arrests, fewer jail bookings, and as a result, declining revenues for jails like RBC’s Justice Center. 

A sustained decrease of local, state and federal inmates in the last couple years have made operating the jail unsustainable, and that trend is unlikely to change anytime soon.

Transportation and administrative costs to house inmates in Moffat County are covered by shifting expenses from closing the jail. The department is also increasing wages for existing deputies, hiring two additional patrol deputies, one special deputy to help with “inmate coordination” and one aforementioned records/administrative position. As both a result of new hires and normal operations, the sheriff’s office has a new vehicle on order for the cost of approximately $55k. Muxlow pointed out that the vehicle purchase lines up with the department’s usual replacement schedule. Budget & Finance Director Janae Stanworth also noted later that money had already been allocated for vehicle replacement in last year’s budget, and would be rolling over to 2022. To save money, the county will also repurpose Commissioner Ty Gates’ vehicle from his time as emergency manager. Despite at least one new vehicle on order, officials and staff noted that nothing is set to come anytime soon, as it is hard to get new vehicles due to the global chip shortage and other problems with the supply chain.

• 

Both Mazzola and Muxlow justified the wage increase by explaining that RBC deputies make less than Meeker or Rangely police officers, and are low-paid compared to other law enforcement agencies in the state. Additionally, Muxlow emphasized that a short-staffed patrol department can cause burnout, and has cost tens of thousands in overtime payouts each year. In 2021 alone the county spent $69K on overtime for deputies. “And I understand burnout and fatigue,” said Muxlow, noting that he has often had to work double shifts for multiple days in a row covering calls “because we don’t have anyone else to cover those calls, or because someone is sick.”

THE NUMBERS

The jail’s budget, which was about $1.07 million this year, will be closer to $230K next year, primarily to cover transportation, contract services with the Moffat County Jail, and to do basic upkeep of the existing building so that it can be repurposed. Currently the idea is to use it as a potential state-of-the-art detentions training center. The savings from the closure will mostly come from cutting 10 full-time staff. Those savings are offset by the addition of four administrative/patrol staff. When all is said and done, the county will save about $400K as a result of the closure, and RBC residents can expect to see some new law enforcement faces patrolling the community next year. 

You can view the full 3-hour discussion from Monday’s meeting at https://youtu.be/-g0Jq0uWg-g?t=706

You can also review more in depth discussions of jail closure and budget at https://youtu.be/Gz3JzMHs8xw?t=3055 and on the county’s YouTube page youtube.com/c/RioBlancoCountyColorado/videos

REGULAR MEETING

During a short meeting, RBC Commissioners appointed Teresia Rose Reed to the Meeker Cemetery board following an interview of Reed that happened last month. The board ratified a letter to the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade’s Economic Development Commission. The letter encourages support of the AGNC Economic Development District as an “Enterprise Zone Contribution Project.” 

The board also approved an agreement to contract certain family planning services through Rangely District Hospital on an as-needed basis, instead of providing those services via the public health department. They approved a settlement agreement with Utah Gas Corporation regarding the 2020 and 2021 regarding the BAA Appeal valuations. Commissioner Jeff Rector explained that after multiple years of litigation with Utah Gas, the county has come to “an equitable settlement.”  Commissioner Moyer noted that an official court date was coming up quickly, and said “we’re pretty pleased that we were able to save the taxpayers a lot of money by settling, compared to what it was gonna cost to go ahead and go to trial.” 

The board amended an agreement for “life skills services,” which paralegal Vicky Edwards explained has been used more than usual lately. The board also approved an emergency out of home placement contract for the Department of Human Services.

FINAL BUDGET UPDATE

• 

The final budget numbers for Rio Blanco County’s 2022 budget are mostly in order. Budget & Finance Director Janae Stanworth gave a brief overview this week and will present a detailed overview at the next board meeting before commissioners vote to adopt. If the county burns through virtually all (98%) of proposed expenditures next year, the operating budget will be about $27.5K short. Stanworth noted the county only spent about 95% of what it budgeted for 2021, which she said is normal. More in-depth budget coverage is available in past editions or at our website. You can also see the county budget book in detail at RBC.us