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| Denver to transfer female inmates |
| By Rocky Mountain News |
| Published: 10/27/2003 |
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Denver will transfer most of its female jail inmates to an unused portion of the Jefferson County jail in Golden to ease crowding. The temporary transfer of 200 to 250 inmates could cost Denver as much as $300,000 for the 30 to 45 days they will be housed in Golden. But the move will provide enough breathing room for Denver to double the capacity of its women's unit at the county jail on Smith Road. "What we are doing is just trying to add another patch - a Band-Aid - to the existing, overcrowded facility," Fred Oliva, Denver's under-sher-iff and director of corrections, said Tuesday. Oliva hopes the "patch" will hold until Denver voters approve a proposal to build a justice center, including a new jail, at the site of the Rocky Mountain News building at 400 W. Colfax Ave. The city purchased the building last year. Nearly 2,000 inmates are crowded into Denver's existing county jail, which was designed for 1,350. The women's unit of the jail was intended to accommodate about 120 inmates, but recently has housed as many as 265. The crowding poses a potentially dangerous problem, said Denver County sheriff's Sgt. Gina McCall. "We have a true safety issue that we are trying to address and Jefferson County, fortunately, has the space and the willingness to work with us," McCall said. "This is what I consider to be true mutual aid." Jefferson County also will benefit from the deal, said Lt. Patricia Woodin of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. "We have empty space. We built this huge facility and it cost us a great deal to build. So this is a win-win situation where maybe we can recoup a little bit of that cost," Woodin said. To ease the crowding at the Smith Road facility, Denver is adding a second floor at a cost of $3.2 million. The 18,750-square-foot addition, which will enlarge the capacity of the women's unit to more than 320 inmates, is expected to be completed by March, Oliva said. Meanwhile, Denver will lodge its minimum- and medium-security female inmates on the fifth floor of the Jefferson County jail at an average daily cost of $35 an inmate, which includes only room and board, not the cost of jailers, Oliva said. It costs $79 a day to house inmates at the Smith Road facility, including the salaries of jail personnel, Oliva said. Denver's maximum-security female inmates will be housed temporarily at the City Jail at 1351 Cherokee St. Long-term inmates will be transferred to another building at the Smith Road facility, Oliva said. |
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