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| Problem-ridden El Paso County jail to close |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 11/29/2004 |
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El Paso County's (Colo.) maximum-security jail will close in June because of critical safety problems, and its 350 inmates will be transferred to upgraded cells at the county's other jail. The county commissioners voted last Monday to shut down the Metro Detention Facility on the recommendations of Sheriff Terry Maketa and a consulting firm that reviewed the jail. ''We have little choice (but to do this) to avoid a very serious, potential disaster at Metro,'' said Commissioner Jim Bensberg. The jail has no equipment to detect smoke, blow smoke out of the building or put out fires. Doorways and stairwells are too small for quick evacuation. Cell doors malfunction and can be jammed open or closed. The consultant's report, released this month, said repairs and upgrades would cost as much as $12 million. Inmates will be transferred to the medium- and minimum-security Criminal Justice Center, which is being expanded by 864 beds that are expected to be ready by March. Commissioners agreed to spend about $1.1 million to shut down Metro, retrofit wards at the Criminal Justice Center for maximum-security inmates and hire six deputies to help guard them. Commissioners also decided to speed the hiring of 16 other employees for the jail, instead of hiring them gradually through 2006. The combined population of the two jails hit a record 1,312 Friday. The previous record was 1,307 in March. Officials had projected the expansion at the Criminal Justice Center would accommodate the inmate population for the next 20 years, but Metro's closure likely will cut that projection in half, Maketa said. |
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