Larimer County highlights $26.7 million jail-cost savings, new veterans court grant in 2024 CJA report

Emily Humphrey, director of Community Justice Alternatives for Larimer County, presented the department’s first annual report and 2024 year‑in‑review to the Board of County Commissioners on Feb. 26, 2025, outlining program outcomes, new grants and operational metrics.

Humphrey summarized the department’s mission: “we prioritize community safety and reduce recidivism by providing accountability, resources and support to justice involved individuals,” and described a set of 2024 accomplishments that department leaders told commissioners both reduced jail use and expanded services.

The presentation included a financial comparison of detention and alternatives. Humphrey said a traditional jail bed day costs $286.53, while community corrections averaged $142.50 per day, work release $146.69 per day and pretrial supervision $6.29 per day. Using the department’s tally of 186,254 jail bed days saved through alternative sentencing and community corrections, Humphrey told the board the county avoided roughly $26,666,000 in annual jail costs when comparing a full‑jail cost to the alternatives’ combined cost.

Commissioner John Kefalas pressed for clarity on whether the savings are “on paper” and where the money goes. He asked, “The savings that you talk about, is that on paper is that real money and if it's real money what where does it go?” Humphrey answered that the calculation reflects what it would have cost had those people been held in jail, and that the alternatives avoid those jail expenditures; she noted some savings also come from avoiding collateral losses such as job or housing loss for people who serve time.

The presentation detailed several new or expanded programs. The board heard that Larimer County received a Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) grant of $898,720 over four years to help stand up a veterans specialty court. Humphrey said the grant will fund part‑time or half‑time positions including a probation officer, a coordinator, a peer support coordinator, and partial prosecutor and public defender time, plus start‑up substance‑testing and a veterans court curriculum using the RANT (Risk and Needs Triage) screening tool. The county expects to launch the veterans court in spring 2025.

On competency services, April Moore, Competency Services Team Lead, described a July 2024 grant that allowed Community Justice Alternatives to reserve 10 beds in work release/alternative‑sentencing specifically for defendants on the competency docket. Moore said the pilot produced 27 referrals in its initial months, 24 met basic work‑release criteria, 11 entered the program and, of the 9 who completed by year‑end, 8 had successful transitions (sober living, reunification or stable housing). Moore told the board, “in those 6 months that we started utilizing the beds, we did save 553 jail bed days.”

Pretrial services and supervision metrics were reviewed by Kathy Ruiz and staff. The department completed 7,078 pretrial assessments in 2024 and reported 7,205 new cases ordered to pretrial services. Staff described a failure‑to‑appear rate of 4.8% for defendants supervised by pretrial services compared with 14.8% for defendants not supervised by pretrial services; the department said this illustrates one measurable benefit of supervision aimed at ensuring court appearance and reducing reoffending.

Victim services were another focus. Humphrey told commissioners that Community Justice Alternatives assisted 679 victim cases in 2024 and maintained 381 active victim notifications. She said the department provided 2,066 post‑sentencing services to victims, including restitution assistance, protection order help, constitutionally required notifications and referrals.

Staff training and emergency responses were emphasized as operational strengths. Humphrey reported staff completed 14,563.25 hours of training in 2024 across topics including mental‑health first aid, CPR/AED, trauma‑informed, gender‑responsive and crisis intervention. She described a recent on‑site medical emergency in the women’s work‑release unit where staff administered CPR and Narcan, and credited training with saving a life.

Community Corrections leaders described program growth and service details. Alexis Ongley, assistant director of community corrections, said the evaluations unit screened 964 cases in 2024 with an acceptance rate around 59%. Community Corrections reported serving 954 clients in residential programs and 234 in nonresidential programming, a historically rising average daily population (noted as 335 at midday on the presentation day). Treatment team leads reported program completion rates ranging from the mid‑60s to high‑70s percent across several specialized tracks.

AIM and Wellness programs (services for people with serious mental illness) reported measurable risk‑reduction on Level of Supervision Inventory (LSI) scores: Fort Collins AIM clients averaged a 13.28% LSI reduction, Loveland AIM 16.29%, and Wellness Court clients averaged a 30% LSI reduction from intake to completion, figures staff presented as indicators of risk reduction and increased protective factors.

Operations and support units also reported performance highlights. The Day Reporting Centers expanded testing and began processing pre‑employment drug screens and credit‑card payments in‑house. The Transportation unit reported 648 home visits, extensive medical transport increases and more trips to detention facilities and state prisons. Staff described a successful PACE audit by the state Department of Criminal Justice (DCJ) and said the audit helped secure program funding adjustments tied to performance.

Commissioners acknowledged staff work and asked how to better communicate program outcomes to the public and to budget decision makers. Commissioner Jody Shattuck McNally said the presentations surfaced both short‑term savings and longer‑term outcomes that are harder to quantify, including family stability and reduced recidivism; Humphrey pointed to the annual report and ongoing performance measures as sources for further explanation.

The report includes program outreach items — sequential intercept mapping (with SAMHSA participation planned), a Larimer Integrated Network of Care (LINC) governance structure for behavioral‑health/data sharing, recurring warrant‑clearance events and a Toys for Tots partnership to serve children of clients. Humphrey said the department’s first printed annual report would be distributed and made available online.

What remained unchanged by the presentation: the board received no formal motions or votes tied to the items presented; commissioners asked clarifying questions and staff committed to follow‑up on specific operational items such as Medicaid billing details for the 90‑day treatment program.

The board meeting record shows the department framed 2024 as a year of growth: grant‑funded program starts, measurable reductions in bed days and risk assessments, increased training hours and incremental capacity for competency and mental‑health‑focused options.

The department’s full annual report and performance measures — which Humphrey said would be distributed electronically and online — are expected to provide deeper breakdowns of recidivism tracking, cost accounting and program outcomes for further public and budgetary review.