Facility

About the Detention Facility

  • The Jefferson County Detention Services Division's 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 facility opened in 1986 at its current location in Golden
  • In 1999 the Sheriff's Office broke ground on a jail expansion that brought the building to its current size. The expanded facility was designed to maintain low costs, maximize security and reduce prisoner movement from one building to another. The facility contains recreation yards, an online law library, and program rooms to support activities for personal development.
  • Inmates in minimum security areas are kept in dormitory-style housing. Though they are not free to leave the module, inmates are free to move about within the unit and participate in a variety of activities. Most of those activities are designed to teach inmates the skills necessary to be successful after returning 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. Because of the structural design of many parts of the jail staff members are able to effectively watch inmates in a direct-supervision manner.

Accreditation

The jail received its accreditation from the American Correctional Association (ACA), which ensures that an independent, non-governmental body regularly checks the jail standards. The facility's medical unit is also accredited by the National Commission on Correctional Healthcare (NCCHC).