Colorado governor's budget director says state needs new prison to house growing inmate population

Gov. Jared Polis' budget director, Mark Ferrandino, is sounding an alarm. He says the Colorado Department of Corrections is limiting new admissions as it reaches capacity, and the state needs to open a new facility to house a growing number of inmates.

Ferrandino urged Colorado's Joint Budget Committee to approve funding for more beds in the short-term. 

"We are going to get to a place, unless the forecasts significantly change, where we are going to need additional capacity," Ferrandino told the committee. 

Ferrandino said the state has closed seven prisons over the last 15 years, as Colorado's prison population has dropped by nearly 6,000 inmates. But he says the population is now growing rapidly, and the state will need to lease or buy a new facility as early as next year.

"There are significant tradeoffs, or significant impacts, when we start to get to capacity," Ferrandino continued

The budget director said, if DOC doesn't receive $2.4 million to house about 800 more inmates immediately, the safety of those inmates and prison staff are at risk.

The four Democrats on the budget committee denied DOC's request for funding last week, saying they want to see a plan to reduce the prison population.

Democratic state Sen. Judy Amabile says sex offenders can't be released without treatment, and 750 of them are on a waitlist. 

"I really want to know that something is moving on this front, and that we're not just throwing up our hands," Amabile said during the committee meeting. 

Discretionary paroles have also plummeted. Democratic state Rep. Kyle Brown noted the governor appoints members of the parole board.

Democratic state Sen. Jeff Bridges also had a message for the Polis administration. 

"What we have seen from the administration is a lack of willingness to even engage in the conversations, some of our colleagues, about releasing some of those lower-level offenders," Bridges said during the meeting. 

Ferrandino says DOC as released low-level offenders. He says 61% of those incarcerated were convicted of violent crimes. 

"The conversations are, I think, harder tradeoffs of conversations that we have to have," Ferrandino said. "I think we're open and willing to have those." 

But Ferrandino says, even if more inmates are paroled or placed in community corrections, the state will still need to lease or purchase another facility. He says DOC is housing nearly 800 prisoners in county jails right now at significantly more money, and he says that number will climb to 1,000 in the next couple months.

Republican state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer says the goal of any plan DOC develops needs to prioritize public safety. She voted to approve the additional funding.

"We're gonna to have to pay for these beds one way or the other," Kirkmeyer said. "We can either pay for a really expensive bed in a county jail and cause problems there, and that ends up costing us a heck of a lot more money, or we're gonna pay for them someplace."

The Department of Corrections is also asking for an additional $15 million to pay for health care for inmates. It says it will run out of money for medical services within the next month and a half.