Bent County Inmate Fund overdrawn, investigation underway
BENT COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) - Bent County is investigating the inmate account after it was overdrawn this summer. The Bent County Commissioners questioned Bent County Sheriff Jake Six about the account during the July 25 County Commissioners meeting.
Bent County Administrator Doug Bankert is heading the investigation. "It's convoluted," Bankert said, adding that the investigation is still in its infancy.
Bankert isn't the only one looking into the overdraw. Sheriff Six is also trying to understand what led to the inmate account going into the negative. "The biggest problem we have is we administratively do not oversee this account," Sheriff Six said the Bent County Treasurer and County Commissioners oversee the account. Nearly every jailer is a signer on the account for bail bond purposes. However, Sheriff Six said he doesn't know how much money is in the account at one time.
Bent County Treasurer Kathy Brown told KRDO13 Investigates she is unaware of how money in the inmate account is spent. Brown only gets the account statements every month, which is how the overdraw was found. Brown added to her knowledge neither the commissioners nor treasurers control the account.
The Bent County Sheriff's Office policy is the inmate fund should be used for the safety and security of the inmates. Usually, that is in the form of buying beds for inmates and, most often, restocking commissaries. Sheriff Six told KRDO13 Investigates that the account makes money from commissary sales and from inmates' video phone calls.
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Sheriff Six did admit that he has used the account to maintain his jail. Even after the county commissioners denied the project. The example that came to light during the BOCC meeting was a project to protect, rewire, and add TVs in the jail in 2023. County Commissioners denied the upgrade, but Six did the project anyway. "For our sake, meaning we're not having riots in our jail, we put TVs in the facility using this [fund]," Six said.
During the July 25 County Commissioners meeting multiple commissioners expressed concerns that inmates' personal money or even bail money could have been spent. Sheriff Six denied those claims. "No bond money has been spent," Six added inmates' personal funds are not held in the same account.
Sheriff Six told KRDO13 Investigates he believes the overdraw happened due to the Sheriff's office forgetting to make a deposit which has since been made.
According to the most recent update, BCSO and the County Commissioners are working on an audit of the account. Six said until a better solution is implemented, any purchases made with the account need approval from a county commissioner and either the Sheriff or Under-Sheriff.
