Mesa County commissioners approve $674,000 jail behavioral-health grant, OK tavern license and $250,000 legal-notices contract

Mesa County commissioners on May 5 approved a $674,000 grant to expand jail-based behavioral health services, granted a tavern liquor license for a Clifton business, updated dog-licensing rules and authorized a contract of up to $250,000 with the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel to publish legally required notices. Each formal action passed by a 2–0 vote.

The grant will be administered through the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office in partnership with the Colorado Department of Human Services Behavioral Health Administration. Henry Stoffel of the sheriff’s office asked the board to approve the award, saying the funds will support substance use disorder, opioid use disorder and mental-health services provided through the county’s jail-based behavioral-health programs. Stoffel told the board the programs served roughly 450 people in the SUD program and about 200 in the opioid program in 2025 and asked the board to approve the grant so the services can continue. “I would ask that you would approve the grant so we continue those programs,” Stoffel said.

Sheriff Todd Rall, invited to speak after the county’s proclamation honoring correctional officers, praised detention staff and thanked the board and community for support. “The work they do back there is absolutely amazing,” Rall said, describing detention work as among the most challenging roles in local law enforcement.

Votes at a glance: the consent agenda (five routine items) was approved 2–0; the $674,000 jail behavioral-health grant was approved 2–0; the tavern liquor license for Jose Quintana and Jessica Hernandez doing business as 4 J’s Billiards and Cantina at 3225 I‑70 Business Loop in Clifton was approved 2–0 after the clerk confirmed all conditions had been met; the amendments to the Mesa County animal services resolution allowing residents to license dogs either with Mesa County or their municipality were approved 2–0; and the contract with the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel to post legally required notices, not to exceed $250,000, was approved 2–0.

The liquor-license presentation included a brief procedural exchange after the motion because the agenda version of the item had listed conditions; Jennifer Inman, the county’s liquor-license clerk, said the applicants had since satisfied those conditions and recommended approval. Inman summarized the application and stated, “There are no issues with the application.” The board then approved the license.

On the legal-notice contract, purchasing supervisor Sam Hyslop said the county solicited the service and received two responses; the Daily Sentinel was selected because it met statutory requirements. Commissioner (speaker 5) supported the item for compliance but used the discussion to argue the statutory requirement that notices run in a local newspaper effectively operates as a subsidy to newspapers and said the state law should be modernized. “If that’s the case, let’s just call it what it is,” the commissioner said, adding later, “I’m a vote yes today, because I have to.” Hyslop told the board that last year’s spend for posting notices was about $230,000.

The meeting opened with the chair reading a proclamation designating May 2026 as Correctional Officers Week to recognize detention staff; the chair noted federal recognition dating to 1987. Commissioners thanked detention employees for their work before moving through routine reports and the day’s agenda. The meeting adjourned with no further business.

Next steps: the chair signed the approved items and the county will proceed with grant execution, liquor-license issuance and the published-notice contract as authorized at the meeting.