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Mission

The mission of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office Detention Services Division is to remain responsive to community needs, maintain a safe and secure facility and provide varied services and programs for stability and enrichment.

The Facility

The Jefferson County Detention Facility is designed to accommodate approximately 1,300 inmates in minimum, medium and maximum security units and special housing areas.  The entire facility comprises 388,000 square feet, with room for male and female detainees in separate housing modules.

The Jefferson County Detention Facility opened in 1986 at its current location at 200 Jefferson County Parkway in Golden.  In 1999 the Sheriff's Office broke ground on a jail expansion that brought the building to its current size.  The facility contains recreation yards, an online law library, and program rooms to support activities for personal development.  

Persons in custody in minimum-security areas are housed in dormitory-style housing. While they are not free to leave the module, they are free to move about within the unit and participate in a wide range of activities. Most of those activities are directed at developing skills necessary to be successful after the inmate returns to the community. Each two-story quadrant in the minimum-security areas includes sleeping rooms, exercise areas, token-operated laundries and multipurpose rooms for meetings and recreation.   Through the direct-supervision structural design of many parts of the jail, staff members are able to supervise inmates most effectively. 

The expanded facility was designed to keep down costs, maximize security and reduce prisoner movement from one building to another. Click here for the history of the Sheriff's Office and various jail buildings through the years.

Inmate Population
The inmate population at the Jefferson County Detention Facility continues to grow.  When the expanded jail opened in 2000, it had an average daily population of 768 total inmates per day.  By 2004, the average daily population was 1,153.  However, the jail has held as many as 1,470 inmates at its fullest during the summer of 2005, as extra beds are added to sleeping areas. 

Accreditation
The jail is accredited by ACA, the American Correctional Association, ensuring that a regular check of jail standards is conducted by an independent, non-governmental body.  Also, its medical unit is accredited by NCCHC, the National Commission on Correctional Healthcare.

Rose Garden
The rose garden, at the northeast corner of the county complex in Golden, is the only public rose garden in the United States to be planted at a jail and maintained by inmates.   The garden is funded via inmates' purchases of snacks and commissary items, and their telephone usage fees. No taxpayer dollars are used in the upkeep of the rose garden. 

Departments

Booking
Every arrestee who arrives at the jail must first be processed through Booking.  The Booking Unit ensures the legal, accurate, timely and safe processing of arrestees before they are moved to housing modules.  In Booking, staff members record general information such as name, physical description, charges, bond information, and emergency contact information.  Deputies then obtain photographs, fingerprints, and iris scans of the arrested persons for identification.  Finally, medical and counseling staff screen each arrestee before he or she is moved to the appropriate housing module.

Court Security
More than 20 deputies are charged with ensuring the security of the county government center. Their duties include making in-court arrests pursuant to judges' orders, confiscating weapons and otherwise securing the courtroom areas, and escorting defendants and witnesses in high-profile cases in and out of the building.  The Court Security Unit also has a K-9 team that specializes in explosive detection.

Special Operations Response Team (SORT)
The Special Operations Response Team comprises 14 Detentions deputies who are specially trained to deal with events such as prison disturbances, riots or fires within the jail facility. SORT members also work outside the jail facility, transporting high-risk prisoners, providing specialized court security in high-risk instances, and assisting the SWAT team in riot control or crowd control.

Transportation
The Sheriff's Office is responsible for transporting inmates to and from other jail facilities throughout Colorado.  The Transportation Unit ensures the safe transfer of inmates between facilities.  Transportation staff is also called upon to take inmates to seek specialized medical care at local area hospitals, when necessary.  In 1995, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office started Transports Across Colorado -- a cooperative effort between the counties to assist each other with inmate transports. This effort saves each agency miles and money. Since 1995 Jefferson County has saved more than $3 million in transportation costs through the program.

Work Release
The Work/Education Release program was developed jointly with the courts to be an alternative to incarceration. The program allows sentenced individuals who meet specific criteria to serve time while maintaining employment or attending approved schooling in the community. Eligibility for the program is dependent on recommendation from the inmate's sentencing court, a review of his or her criminal history, and thorough medical and psychological examinations. Those placed in the program must pay a per diem rate that is adjusted based on their ability to pay. Work release fees go to the county's general fund.

Inmate Programs

The Sheriff's Office provides a variety of programs for the inmate population.  Many of these programs are financed by proceeds from inmates' purchases of snacks, stamps and other commissary items.  These proceeds are used to fund five staff positions; educational programs; counseling programs; chaplain services; recreation (including television, basketball, board games and cards); tools for outside inmate workers (such as gardening tools for use in the rose garden); training videos; and bus tokens for inmates being released. 

Inmate Workers
Some inmates are permitted to work inside the jail and around the county government campus in exchange for "good time" -- time off their sentences.  Indoor workers perform such duties as cleaning and laundry.   Outdoor work crews take care of landscaping and other maintenance on the government campus, and may work in the rose garden or on the "road crew," removing litter from roadsides in Jefferson County.

Education
Education staff helps inmates work toward achieving their General Equivalency Diploma (GED). Inmates can test for and receive their GED while incarcerated. Inmates are also offered vocational assessment and employability skills training via computer software. Community volunteers work with inmates to tutor them in GED and basic skills. The objective of these collective activities is to prevent the inmate's return to jail following release and provide expanded opportunities for them outside of jail.  For information on volunteering, visit our Volunteers page.

Religion
The Religion group is headed by a full-time, on-staff chaplain and is supplemented with the hard work of approximately 90 lay and clerical volunteers. Religious studies for people of any religious faith are available through volunteer staff, and both Roman Catholic and Christian ecumenical (Protestant) worship services are offered regularly.

Counseling
The Counseling unit in Detentions provides counseling, recreation, education and religion services for inmates.  Counselors are responsible for screening each new inmate to determine whether he or she is mentally unstable, suicidal, or has been prescribed psychotropic medications. Counselors use an interview in conjunction with a review of each inmate's criminal record to classify the inmate as maximum, medium or minimum security. For incarcerated inmates, counselors arrange Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings (taught by outside volunteers), and teach classes on anger management and averting domestic violence. An on-staff psychiatrist treats inmates who are referred by counselors.

Recreation
The Recreation staff supervises and develops programming for all inmate recreation activities, including physical activities.  The Jefferson County Jail adheres to the the American Correctional Association's accreditation standards which mandate that inmates have access to exercise opportunities and equipment, including at least one hour daily of physical exercise outside the cell, and outdoors when weather permits.  Activity and exercise are important to the physical and mental well-being of each inmate, his/her peers, and to facility and staff security, providing a positive outlet for inmates' energy.