A Bill for an Act
Page 1, Line 101Concerning an exception to the requirement that a county
Page 1, Line 102with a population of two thousand or more maintain its
Page 1, Line 103own county jail for a county that enters into an
Page 1, Line 104intergovernmental agreement for a
Page 1, Line 105multijurisdictional county jail.
Bill Summary
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does not reflect any amendments that may be subsequently adopted. If this bill passes third reading in the house of introduction, a bill summary that applies to the reengrossed version of this bill will be available at http://leg.colorado.gov/.)
Legislative Oversight Committee Concerning Colorado Jail Standards. Current law requires each county with a population of 2,000 or more to maintain a county jail. The bill exempts any such county from the requirement to maintain a county jail if the county has entered into an intergovernmental agreement with another county to operate a multijurisdictional county jail.
Page 2, Line 1Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:
Page 2, Line 2SECTION 1. Legislative declaration. (1) The general assembly finds and declares that:
Page 2, Line 3(a) Many small counties cannot support the construction, maintenance, operation, and staffing of a county jail;
Page 2, Line 4(b) The state does not provide funding for county jail operations to counties and imposes state-mandated requirements on county jails; and
Page 2, Line 5(c) Counties have statutory authority to enter into intergovernmental agreements and to construct multijurisdictional jails.
Page 2, Line 6(2) Therefore, the general assembly finds and declares that it is
Page 2, Line 7necessary to consolidate county jails to ensure detainees and prisoners from small counties have necessary resources.
Page 2, Line 8SECTION 2. In Colorado Revised Statutes, amend 17-26-101 as follows:
Page 2, Line 917-26-101. Jail in each county. (1) Except as provided in
Page 2, Line 10subsection (2) of this section, there
shall bePage 2, Line 11county in this state, at the expense of the county, a county jail for the
Page 2, Line 12detention, safekeeping, and confinement of persons and prisoners
Page 2, Line 13lawfully committed. Nothing in this
article shall be construed to compelPage 2, Line 14article 26 compels the erection of jails in counties having a population
Page 2, Line 15of less than two thousand or when the county owns a jail erected in any other place in the county.
Page 2, Line 16(2) A county that maintains an intergovernmental
Page 3, Line 1agreement or any other contract with at least one other
Page 3, Line 2county for the safekeeping or confinement of persons or
Page 3, Line 3prisoners lawfully committed is not required to maintain a
Page 3, Line 4county jail within the jurisdictional physical boundaries of such county.
Page 3, Line 5SECTION 3. Safety clause. The general assembly finds,
Page 3, Line 6determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate
Page 3, Line 7preservation of the public peace, health, or safety or for appropriations for
Page 3, Line 8the support and maintenance of the departments of the state and state institutions.