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| 3/26/2010 5:20:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| Boot camp suspended
The boot camp facility at the Buena Vista Correctional Complex, shown here, has been suspended, and its funding redirected to other facilities. The closure of the boot camp program will save about $900,000 in 2010 and about $1 million in 2011 and 2012. (Photo courtesy of Colorado Mountain College) |
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Boot camp closing to hurt Park County Jail
Mike Potter
Staff Writer
The closing of the boot camp program at the Buena Vista Correctional Complex will have an impact on the Park County Jail budget, but county officials are working to cover the loss.
The Park County Jail housed a number of inmates as they prepared to enter boot camp, and in return Park County was paid about $144,000 annually by the Colorado Department of Corrections.
With that boot camp closing, Park County will be losing that revenue.
According to Park County Budget and Finance Director Kathy Boyce, in 2009 the Park County Jail brought in $1.6 million in revenue. The majority of that money was raised through contracts to house prisoners from other facilities.
That $144,000 tied to the boot camp represented 9 percent of the jail's expected revenue for the year.
She said the jail had budgeted $1.75 million in revenue in 2009.
Park County Undersheriff Monte Gore said he plans to meet with Colorado Department of Corrections officials to discuss housing more offenders to cover the loss of boot camp inmate revenue.
He hopes something could be worked out.
"Park County has had a really good working relationship with the state for some time now," Gore said.
He believes that the Park County Jail could take on more serious offenders. When the jail addition was built, upgrades to security were made.
He feels the jail could safely house the serious offenders.
Saving money
Decreased revenue is a problem Park County shares with almost every other agency in the state, Gore said.
"I think the state's in a really tough spot," he said. "Their revenues are down. They've been concerned for quite some time about diminishing revenues."
The move to shutter the boot camp facilities is an effort to save money on a program that is being utilized by fewer inmates.
Katherine Sanguinetti, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Corrections, said fewer inmates are qualifying for the boot camp program, increasing the cost of keeping it running.
She said the fixed costs of running the program make it more expensive as fewer inmates are admitted to boot camp.
"The population doesn't support it anymore," she said. "In the last year, class 3, 4, 5, and 6 felonies have declined dramatically."
Class 3 felonies are more severe than class 6 felonies.
Sanguinetti said "new court commitments," or new offenders coming into the system, are down from the previous year.
From 2008 to 2009, class 3 felonies declined 15 percent, class 4 declined 24 percent, class 4 declined 23 percent, and class 6 declined 7 percent.
"Since 1999, the last 10 years, the placement at boot camp has decreased steadily," she said.
She said it has decreased about 38 percent in the last 10 years because of the shrinking pool of inmates who would qualify for the program.
In the last year, there was an average of 79 offenders per day, she said.
The removal of the program will save the state about $900,000 in 2010, and more than $1 million each year in 2011 and 2012.
The boot camp facility was created in 1993 after suggestions from a number of judges. It is only available to specific inmates.
According to Sanguinetti, in order to qualify for the intensive 90-day program, inmates had to be younger than 30, had to pass a physical, and had to be convicted of a nonviolent crime.
She said doors weren't being closed permanently on the program. There is a possibility that it could come back in the future.
"The one thing to keep in mind is that we're not seeking a statutory change," she said. "We're just suspending it until we have more money and the population will keep it full again."
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