How the El Paso County jail is reducing their population during coronavirus outbreak

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- On Wednesday morning, 1,055 inmates were booked inside the El Paso County jail. While that sounds like a lot, it's a drastic decrease from the population last summer.

Over the last few weeks, the jail has been working to reduce the number of people being booked amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

While no inmates have tested positive for coronavirus, 25 inmates are being kept in isolation.

Jacqueline Kirby, the spokesperson for the El Paso County Sheriff's Office says those inmates aren't necessarily showing symptoms. Rather, they came into contact with someone before they were booked or came into contact with someone at intake and release who had shown symptoms.

They're reducing the population and taking precautions through a number of strategies. That includes temporarily eliminating the work-release program, not accepting inmates from other counties, and releasing some arrestees on personal recognizance bonds after intake.

Kirby explains the sheriff's office cannot choose to release inmates.

She says, "the Sheriff's office doesn't have the authority to release anyone back into the community. That has to be in conjunction with the court system and the district attorney's office."

Since the COVID-19 outbreak began, fewer people have been going into jail than coming out. Kirby says the calls for service have declined in the last few weeks.

"Anecdotally, our calls for service are down, quite significantly and hopefully, that's because people are staying at home and abiding by the order," Kirby explains.

Anyone who enters the jail, both inmates and employees are getting their temperature taken and asked a series of questions about their symptoms, and who they've come into contact with.

Some of the isolated inmates are those who came into contact with employees who have shown symptoms, including Deputy Jeff Hopkins who died from the virus last week.