Cracking walls, rusted ceilings cited as reasons for new jail
Shifting concrete walls and rusted ceilings have become the norm at the Pueblo County Jail.
“It’s in dire straits. Our facility is old,” said Capt. Leroy Mora, who oversees the operation of the jail.
Pueblo County Sheriff Kirk Taylor has proposed a 1-cent sales tax increase that would largely be spent on building a new jail.
Mora gave KRDO NewsChannel 13 a tour of the jail Wednesday afternoon to show what the conditions are like. He pointed to a door on the second floor by the medical unit that remains open because a sewage leak broke the lock.
“The overall facility causes more work for our officers because if we do have a wing that’s flooding or something — we have to get the inmates out of there. We have to call in manpower to take care of it,” Mora said.
Plumbing remains the biggest structural challenge in the 35-year-old jail. Mora said it would cost $4 million just to replace the plumbing.
He also highlighted the concrete walls that are separating, which he said has allowed bats to seep into the jail — raising concerns about rabies.
“Our concern would be if they get into the housing unit and they’re exposed or bite an inmate, they would get the rabies themselves,” Mora said. “Obviously we would have to treat them. From my understanding, it would be a $10,000 process per incident just to treat them for the rabies.”
Renovating the jail — instead of building a new one — would cost between $30 million to $40 million, Mora said, and wouldn’t be practical.
“Our current population is 666. We would have to take all those inmates and house them somewhere else, which would cost us anywhere from $50 to $55 per day per inmate,” he said.
Taylor estimates that building a new jail would cost about $140 million. Under his proposed 1-cent tax increase, the tax would last for 10 years and generate $180 million. Taylor wants to use the remaining money to build a rehabilitation center and give employees a raise.
KRDO NewsChannel 13 spoke with Pueblo residents, who have mixed feelings about the tax increase.
“The only reason it’s overcrowded is because they’re bringing in some stupid charges against people. They’re picking them up for any crazy thing just to keep the tally up on the jail,” said Leonard Sanchez.
Linda Lou Vigil said, “I’m torn about this because I used to be a corrections officer and so I know that everything’s overcrowded. I know the system. It’s kind of hard because Pueblo is a small town and money is tight.”
Pueblo County commissioners have to decide by early September whether to ask voters to approve a tax increase.
