Cochise County sheriff holds public jail-district meetings, says county needs new jail

Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels said the county held the first of several jail-district meetings in Sierra Vista this week and reiterated that the county needs a new jail.

At the meeting, Dannels and local officials described outreach and answered residentsquestions about detention conditions and the countyjail system. "We want people to understand the jail, why we do it. We need a jail, no doubt about it," Dannels said on KWCD's First Watch radio program.

The sheriff described the Sierra Vista event as a "unified front," with participation from county officials and court leaders. He named Kathleen Gomez, County Attorney Lori Zuko and Judge Dave Thorn among those who joined county staff and sheriff's-office personnel, including Commander Kenny Bradshaw and the county health director, Megan, at the meeting. Dannels said the sessions are intended to give residents information and to answer questions ahead of any next steps.

Dannels also discussed a coordinated corrections operation called Desert Guardian that ran this week across multiple jurisdictions. The sheriff said the statewide sweep involved sheriff's offices and the Department of Corrections and focused on finding drugs, weapons and contraband inside detention facilities. "We did a sweep... looking for drugs, weapons, violations of any kind. We found some hooch, homemade alcohol, but we did not find drugs, weapons or things like that," Dannels said. He credited detention officers for intercepting contraband coming into the jail on people.

Sheriff Dannels repeatedly framed the outreach as informational and said there were attendees opposed to any particular course of action; he said the meetings are an opportunity to answer questions rather than to adopt immediate policy. There was no vote or formal action described on the radio program.

For residents with questions, Dannels said to contact the sheriff's office; he pointed listeners to Commander Kenny Bradshaw as a staff contact. The sheriff also noted the county had recorded a longer interview about the meetings with local media and encouraged people to attend future sessions.

The sheriff emphasized the age of the existing facility in describing the need for replacement: "Forty years, four decades old... now it's time to watch it close," he said on the program.

The sheriff's remarks and the county's stated outreach schedule indicate further public meetings are planned across Cochise County; no funding, timeline or formal decision was announced during the radio appearance.