Jefferson County sheriff seeks supplemental to accept Morrison funding, applies for traffic and jail behavioral health grants

Jefferson County Sheriff Reggie Hornell and David Grips, budget and finance director for the sheriff's office, asked the Board of County Commissioners to approve several funding and policy items including a $407,256 intergovernmental agreement with the Town of Morrison and three grant applications.

The most immediate action Hornell and Grips requested was approval of an intergovernmental agreement to accept and expend $407,256 from Morrison after the town dissolved its police department. “The amount of the agreement is $407,256,” David Grips said. Hornell described an operational rearrangement that had already placed a deputy in the Morrison area to cover the town’s day and swing shifts; he said the change was handled through district reassignments and did not create an unmanageable call load for the sheriff’s office.

Grips also presented a personnel-administration proposal affecting detention specialists who attend the police academy. He said trainees are currently removed from one retirement system while at the academy and then re-entered afterward, which creates administrative complications when academy classes end mid-payroll. He summarized the estimated additional cost as “$2.86 for an 11-week academy per employee, and about $545 for a 21-week academy,” and said the office would take the approved concept to the county personnel board for implementation.

The office also sought the board’s endorsement for three grant applications: a $15,000 impaired-driving grant from the Colorado Department of Transportation to fund overtime and patrol shifts; a $65,000 speed mitigation grant, also for overtime and enforcement; and a $590,000 jail-based behavioral health services grant from the Colorado Behavioral Health Administration covering the period July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026. Grips said the behavioral health grant would fund multiple providers and services in the jail, including “two to three substance abuse counselors,” a case manager, “one to two mental health counselors,” a medication-assisted treatment nurse, and “100% of funding, salary and benefits for a coordinator of that program,” with roughly $295,000 allocated in each of two fiscal years.

Commissioners indicated unanimous support for each request during the briefing; the sheriff’s office said it would pursue supplemental appropriations if the grants are awarded.

The sheriff’s office characterized most items as operational or grant applications; no ordinance or permanent policy changes were adopted during the briefing, and the payroll/retirement proposal will move next to the county personnel board for formal action.