Jefferson and Weld counties are using innovative methods to reduce inmate populations that could become models for other metro counties with full-to-bursting jails.
The counties have special programs to deal with nonviolent misdemeanor offenders who have outstanding warrants, mostly for failure to appear in court.
The programs aim to save taxpayers money by reducing the number of inmates at jails and jail costs.
Police are able to spend more time on other matters when they aren’t escorting misdemeanor fugitives, proponents of the plans say.
Weld recently offered a week of “jail amnesty,” and Jefferson is reminding people of court dates so warrants don’t have to be issued.
“We try to come up with ways to save the county money and be more efficient and yet still uphold public safety standards,” said Tom Giasinti, director of the justice services division in Jefferson County.
Weld County Sheriff John Cooke agrees that targeting outstanding misdemeanor warrants is a good move.
“I would like to get more people” through the amnesty program “to get these warrants cleared,” he said.
Weld County has about 8,000 misdemeanor or petty offense warrants.
The jail amnesty program, which ran from Nov. 13 through Nov. 19, cleared 98 people of outstanding warrants after they reported to the sheriff’s office and county clerk’s office.
“For the first year we did this, I think it was good,” Cooke said. “Hopefully the word will spread and next year we will get even more.” The county plans to try amnesty again next November.
Cooke said some people were suspicious the amnesty might be a sting. “Their main question was, ‘Is is this a trick or a trap?”‘ Cooke said.
Instead of jail, the people who took advantage of amnesty were given a new court date.
In Jefferson County, a two-pronged pilot program will soon become a full-time, permanent one after being approved by county commissioners.
A staffer telephones people to remind them of an upcoming court date.
“Most all of them were very appreciative of the call and surprised that Jefferson County was doing something like this,” said Paula Hancock, who made calls for the pilot program, which ran from April through June. “I had one lady who started crying on me.”
Hancock also called people the day after they missed a court date. She told them a warrant had been issued for failure to appear, but it would be stayed for five days so they could get to the courthouse in Golden and commit to a new date.
The pilot project indicated a full-time program could annually:
Reduce the number of nonviolent, misdemeanor failure-to-appear warrants from 7,200 to 4,104.
Reduce time spent by court clerks processing warrants from 3,800 hours to 2,200 hours.
Reduce the time police spend serving warrants from 5,400 hours to 3,078 hours.
Reduce hours spent booking those arrested from 7,200 hours to 4,100 hours.
Save the sheriff’s office more than $200,000 in jailing costs.
Officials expect the new program to start early next year; the full-time position will be funded by the sheriff’s office.
“We are looking forward to doing it for a year so we could see the long-term effect it could have,” said Jefferson County Sheriff Ted Mink.
The Jefferson County program is modeled after one in King County, Wash. The Jefferson County Criminal Justice Strategic Planning Committee, made up of members of the county’s court and justice system and law enforcement agencies, spearheaded it.
“It’s an effort to be efficient and have our jail population reflect those who need to be in jail and divert others out,” said Jefferson County District Attorney Scott Storey, also a committee member.
“It is something we are trying to be proactive about,” Storey said.
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303-820-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
