Pueblo Sheriff Discusses Frustrations with County Jail

Many changes are coming to southern Colorado in 2018 but one thing that will remain the same are the issues facing the Pueblo County Detention Center.

County Sheriff Kirk Taylor says the recent violent attack on a deputy inside the jail that sent them to the hospital is the latest incident that shows the facility needs a much-needed upgrade. “As the sheriff, my number one priority is the safety of my employees and the subsequent safety of the inmates,” says Taylor.

Inmate overcrowding and poor infrastructure are other problems with the facility. When voters decided to not pass ballot measure 1A in November, it led to the sheriff’s office to come up with different ways to handle the desperate situation they are in. Taylor says, “The fact that we are so overcrowded we have had to become creative in housing certain populations of our jail.” The sheriff says things are getting worse, “It’s just a matter of time before the lid blows.”

Creating major concerns for Taylor and his staff, “I just don’t know what else I can tell people to where they’ll get it.”

Pueblo County Commissioner Garrison Ortiz is also feeling the frustration. He is the legislator behind the failed ballot measure. Ortiz started the county jail task force to figure out solutions to the issues and doesn’t plan on stopping. Ortiz says, “Even though the ballot measure was not successful, the problems itself still does not dissipate.”

Ortiz says he is creating another smaller task force to tackle the issues and says it now goes beyond faulty infrastructure and overcrowding, bust safety for those who watch over the jail, “We not only address the liability of the county but we also ensure that deputies working in these conditions every day are certainly safe.”

The cell door malfunction that led to the deputy assault on Christmas is said to be repaired.