Montezuma County discusses applying for peace officer mental-health grant, reviews jail behavioral-services contract

On June 23, 2025, at a workshop of the Montezuma County Board of Commissioners, county officials discussed applying for a state-administered peace officer mental-health grant and reviewed an expiring contract that funds jail-based mental-health and substance-use services.

The county’s Sheriff said, “The Department of Health from the state of Colorado has opened up grant funding that's due in June for a peace officer mental health grant like what we've had in the previous years,” and asked the board to approve applying for the grant. Commissioners and staff discussed the usual submittal form and timing for the application.

The discussion also covered a proposed extension of the county’s jail-based behavioral-services contract with a provider identified in the meeting packet as Access. The Sheriff described the contract as “an extension of the contract that expires June 30. I think the amount is 311 just over $311,000,” characterizing it as funding for medical and psychiatric services inside the detention center. County staff said the full program total is $386,000 and that that total is split between mental-health services and substance-use disorder services.

County staff said the state fully funds the jail-services contract and that no local match is required. A staff member said, “we worked with Phaedra, worked with the sheriff's office and with Access to make sure that we covered as much of our costs and that that it covered Access's costs for the services that they provide. The state fully funds it,” and that a contract between the county and Access is included in the packet and has been signed by Access. The staff member added, “I believe the sheriff has signed that. And, if you agree to it tomorrow, then the county would sign it as well.”

Officials also discussed timing and signature logistics for DocuSign forms; one commissioner said several DocuSign requests had been received and had short expirations. The Sheriff raised a separate, brief item about state reimbursement rates for housing state prisoners, referencing figures he said arrived by mail: “$25.26” and another figure of “$77.16,” and noting the reimbursement rate change was effective beginning July 1, according to the Sheriff’s description.

No formal motion or recorded vote on the grant application or the contract extension appears in the workshop transcript. Commissioners indicated the county would proceed with the grant submittal and with contract execution steps pending signatures and any needed extensions from the state.