JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colorado — As part of a plan aimed at combating budget shortfalls, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) said it is releasing 47 inmates from the jail Tuesday afternoon.
That’s in addition to the 21 inmates who were released over the weekend as part of a jail population management plan that took effect on Jan. 1.
Under this new policy, the JCSO said it will start releasing inmates if the jail population exceeds capacity by more than 2%.
JCSO has not identified the latest round of inmates who will be released early. During a previous interview with 9NEWS, the Sheriff’s Office said inmates eligible for release have served at least half their sentence.
Each morning, JCSO said the staff would meet and review the inmate count to determine if any action was needed. This is the first time since the policy went into effect that the inmates had to be released.
Sheriff Jeff Shrader acknowledged in a statement from JCSO that the early release "undermines the authority of the judges and the authority of the court."
"Releasing inmates early before they have completed their full sentence is also not the message we want to send to criminals," Shrader said. "Unfortunately, it is the action we have to take to meet the budgetary constraints we are currently faced with."
Last year, Shrader announced his department would be facing significant budget cuts in 2020. To continue operating the jail in that county, he would have to make some changes in order to house fewer inmates.
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