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November 7, 2001
By Janelle Holden Several hundred county residents gathered Tuesday morning to witness the opening of the new Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office and Detention Center. Sheriff Joey Chavez thanked county voters for passing the first-ever county sales tax to build the $5.5 million facility. "In November 1999, Montezuma County voters made history for our county," said Chavez. County voters approved a 0.45-cent sales-tax increase in 1999 to build the 110-bed jail, after rejecting a similar tax proposal the year before. The tax will sunset in 2019. The new 41,000-square-foot jail, which sits well off the corner of Empire Street and Mildred Road, will replace the current county jail, which has been plagued by overcrowding and security problems. County commissioners Kent Lindsay, Gene Story, and Kelly Wilson also spoke before the ribbon-cutting. "We hope to take really good care of this facility. We haven’t done anything like this in 30 years. Hopefully this one will last us another 30 years," said Commission Chairman Lindsay. "We hope that as the county grows, the population inside this facility doesn’t grow with it," said Wilson. Chavez told the crowd that the jail was built without any change orders, a virtually-unheard-of feat for a project that size. Representatives from Weeminuche Construction, Archetype Design, and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe were also at the ribbon-cutting. Sheriff’s deputies gave tours of the facility after the ceremony. Chavez plans to move inmates and his staff of 50 into the new building within the next couple of weeks. The current detention facility routinely holds 110 or more inmates, more than double what it was designed for. The two additional wings will allow the inmate capacity to reach double what it is now, or around 210 beds. The old jail will be remodeled this spring, using a $350,000 energy-impact grant, to hold community-corrections and work-release inmates for the city of Cortez and the county, and to serve as a much-needed detox center. The new jail includes a juvenile wing, nine holding cells, expanded medical facilities, office space, additional interview rooms, an expanded kitchen, ID card-controlled evidence and armory rooms, a fireproof records department, upgraded surveillance systems, and larger "day rooms" for inmates. The jail was built in cooperation with the city of Cortez. In exchange for 12 acres of county land, the city agreed to construct and pave an extension of Park Street and install a water line. The city also constructed the expansion of Driscoll Street for access to a business park planned for eight acres between the two street extensions. The other four acres will remain as open space.
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Copyright © 2001 the Cortez
Journal. All rights reserved. |
