boulder county may see construction of new detention facility

Funding may soon be secured for the construction of a new facility in Boulder County, Colorado that will separate inmates serving alternative sentences from those in the general jail population.

The new facility is expected to cost around $50 million to build and would entail barracks-type housing.

Those currently serving alternative sentences in the county often do so at the Boulder County Jail at 3200 Airport Road.

County officials have long argued that putting inmates who are non-violent offenders and part of a work release program in the county jail clogs up space in that facility.

Earlier this month, Boulder County residents overwhelmingly approved a measure calling for a 0.185 percent sales tax that will be used to raise revenue to build the new detention center.

That tax will have a life span of 5 years.

Work release inmates usually fulfill their sentences on the outside during the day, returning to the Boulder County Jail at night.

Speaking this summer during a meeting of the Boulder County Board of Commissioners, Joe Pelle, the Sheriff of Boulder County, said combining inmates who are allowed to come and go from the jail, with those who don’t, was also a security issue.

The revenue gathered from the new tax will also pay for some upgrades to the existing 30 year-old county jail.

A timetable for when the new detention facility will be built has not yet been announced.

By Garry Boulard

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