When state prisons in Colorado are full, county sheriffs hold people awaiting transfer to prison in their local jails and are partially reimbursed by the state.

Colorado’s state prisons have been near capacity since August, and predictions that the prison population will continue to grow have state lawmakers regularly debating the addition of more beds or contracting additional facilities.

The so-called jail backlog fluctuates as the Colorado Department of Corrections empties or fills available beds. The number of people in county jails awaiting transfer reached just under 700 as of Jan. 20. There is a higher concentration of people awaiting transfer in some county jails than others.

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Someone being held in a county jail does not have access to the full medical services and programming that prisons offer for rehabilitation, and it costs the state more to pay for beds in county jails than it does to pay for beds in prisons.

A 2018 bipartisan law intended to increase the prison vacancy rate once it remains below 3 percent for 30 consecutive days. The law was triggered for the first time in the fall but the measures it calls for have been ineffective, and legislators want to see more efforts from the department to reduce the prison population. A bill introduced at the Legislature this year would strengthen the original law.

The state reimburses county jails $77.16 per person awaiting transfer to state prison per day, a rate approved by the Colorado Legislature. This rate barely covers half of the cost for some county jails.

In July, a group of sheriffs wrote to Colorado Governor Jared Polis seeking a solution to the difficulties the jail backlog creates for them since the reimbursement rate does not cover the full cost and creates a burden, particularly for smaller counties with a lower budget.

In Mesa County, the total cost of housing a person in jail each day as of 2024 was $120 to $130, according to Henry Stoffel, division chief at the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office. The county ends up spending about $470,000 of its own money annually to hold people sentenced to state prison in its custody.

The Mesa County jail has held an average of 30 people over the last year who have been sentenced to state prison. The jail’s capacity is 553 people, with the ability to go up to 621 if needed, according to Stoffel. The jail’s average daily population overall has been 436 over the last year.

“Every time you add one individual to the facility, it increases the stressors on our employees,” Stoffel said.

Some people sentenced to state prison have been in Mesa County jail for “several months,” Stoffel said. In Mesa County, there are more women being held for the state than men.

The DOC backlog is an increase in the jail population that we feel we shouldn't have to bear, because the inmates should be transferred to DOC in a timely manner.– Melissa Chesmore, spokesperson for the Weld County Sheriff’s Office

Mesa County’s contract with its medical provider is for 425 people, and it has to pay an extra per diem charge anytime its population goes over 425, Stoffel said. The cost to feed people in jail goes up with each additional person, too. Ultimately, Mesa County taxpayers pick up the cost when more people are in the local jail, which Stoffel said is not fair when those people should be paid for by the state.

“What would be best for the citizens of Mesa County is that either the Department of Corrections takes the inmates who have been sentenced in a timely fashion — I would expect within a week of being sentenced we should be able to get them to their facilities — or to pay the actual costs for us to hold them,” Stoffel said.

When the state has open beds for people in jail in Mesa County, the sheriff’s office has to drive those people to the Denver Reception and Diagnostic Center for intake — a more than 250-mile drive. Mesa County pays for the staff and travel costs to move those people to Denver, too.

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“It’s always a scheduling issue for us to make sure we have the manpower and the ability to get over the mountains,” Stoffel said.

Weld County spends over $1 million in county funds to hold people sentenced to state prison annually. Housing one person cost Weld County $185.51 each day in 2024, according to Melissa Chesmore, spokesperson for the Weld County Sheriff’s Office, leaving a $108.35 deficit per person after the state’s reimbursement.

“The DOC backlog is an increase in the jail population that we feel we shouldn’t have to bear, because the inmates should be transferred to DOC in a timely manner,” Chesmore said.

The one jail in Weld County can hold up to 1,335 people. It currently has 54 people awaiting transfer to state custody, and 21 of those people have been in Weld County’s jail for over 40 days. Chesmore said 54 people takes up two housing units that need to be staffed 24/7.

“Our supervision must match the inmate’s risk and need, so depending on what kind of population is in that backlog, the higher the risk and need for the inmate, the more supervision we’re required to provide,” Chesmore said.

The state should collaborate with county sheriffs to find solutions to the jail backlog that work for everyone involved, Chesmore said.

In Arapahoe County, 76 of the 899 people incarcerated in the county jail are being held for the state, according to Scott Luedtke, detention services bureau chief. The county bills the state $135.52 per day per person incarcerated and receives the standard $77.16 reimbursement.

The backlog is drastically lower for Denver County, whose jail is right next door to the state prison reception center. Across two facilities, Denver has about 2,400 beds, according to Sheriff Elias Diggins. He said Denver generally does not have a backlog, because the state is “pretty resourceful” in taking people from the county jail once they are sentenced to go to prison.

The average cost to house one person in jail in Denver is $240 per day. Diggins said the low state reimbursement rate is a concern shared by sheriffs across the state.