Committee raises security and capacity concerns over CoreCivic transports; sheriff reports vacancies, bookings and radio coverage issues

A sheriff's office representative reported staffing vacancies, booking volumes and radio coverage problems to the First Response Services Committee and committee members pressed for solutions to security risks posed by off-site prisoner transports.

"In the past 30 days, sheriff's office has responded to 17 motor vehicle accidents, issued 30 citations. The jail has booked in 70 persons, released 53," the sheriff's office representative said, also reporting 52 warrants entered and 59 completed and 1,508 complaint cards entered by dispatch in the same period. The representative told the committee that domestic-violence incidents numbered 13 with six arrests for the month.

The representative said dispatch uses a series of screening questions to decide which units to page for a call (for example, rescue is paged when a person is trapped). The committee was told that the dispatch system in use is an eDispatch app that notifies personnel via cell phone and that the county has seen several complaints about portable radio reception in the west side service areas; most faulty radio reports came from the Castellen Springs and Bethpage ZIP codes.

Committee members pressed on communications infrastructure and were told a proposed tower on Grama Hill has been in planning and will be out to bid soon; the county is funding the tower and a partner will pay for equipment in a roughly 50-50 split. "We look forward to that being completed because of the 12 (radio issues), 11 of them is in the Castellan Springs and Bethpage zip codes. We definitely need to improve our radio system on the West Side," the sheriff's representative said.

Several committee members raised security concerns tied to daytime transports from CoreCivic and other out-of-county facilities to local courts. Committee members described incidents of disruptive behavior and an episode where a visitor reached an inmate; members asked whether the county could build a sally port or an exterior secure door onto the Kermit Justice Center to reduce risk while a new jail is planned.

"What was said in the meeting last week was that even if we said go ahead today with the new prison, it'd be three years before it was built. So the question came up, how can we keep our community safe until then?" a committee member said. Committee members discussed options including increased parking-lot monitoring, additional correction officers on court days and a sally port project; public-works staff said a sally port would likely require a formal bid rather than internal public-works construction.

Contract and coordination issues with CoreCivic also came up. Committee members said CoreCivic has been inconsistent in cooperating with attempts to use video arraignment to avoid transports and that the county's contract with CoreCivic is due for renegotiation next year; one committee member suggested adding coordination or booking provisions to the contract. A public commenter suggested that county leadership observe the full intake and booking process for CoreCivic transports to better understand staffing and time impacts.

Committee members asked about legal liability if the county does not build a sally port. The sheriff's representative said liability questions belong to the county attorney and the committee agreed to invite the attorney to the next meeting to address legal exposure and liability questions. No formal motions or votes on construction were taken at the meeting; the discussion was informational and directed staff to follow up on feasibility and legal advice.