Durango threatens legal action for decision to turn away municipal inmates (2024)

City codes responsible for less than 1 percent of total jail population

Bewilderment.

That was the general consensus this week among Durango city councilors and staff members about the La Plata County sheriff’s sudden decision to no longer house municipal offenders at the jail.

A day after receiving Sheriff Sean Smith’s letter, city councilors met Friday in executive session to consider their options. They emerged to say they are considering legal action. Specifically, they may take the Sheriff’s Office to court in a show-cause hearing to learn what necessitated the policy change and whether it is warranted.

In his letter on Thursday, the sheriff said beginning Aug. 15 the La Plata County Jail will no longer accept “fresh arrests” or people sentenced to jail on municipal charges, citing a shortage of space.

Durango officials said they are confused by the decision.

City Attorney Mark Morgan said the number of people sent to jail by Durango Municipal Court is minuscule compared to the overall jail population – as in less than 1%. Those sent to jail largely consist of low-level offenders who blew off court hearings for petty crimes like illegal camping and trespassing.

“We are seriously concerned about the effect of this notice on our citizen’s safety, and our ability to stop potentially dangerous behavior,” said Brice Current, chief of Durango Police Deparment, in a news release Thursday. “Over the past six months the city’s municipal court has enjoyed great success delivering services to at-risk citizens. The ability to hold offenders, particularly those who have repeatedly missed court, is a key factor.”

So far this year, the city has racked up only about 120 total jail nights. And 37 of those are for one inmate – Durango’s most ticketed woman in 2023, who spent about 37 days in jail to wipe out almost 100 outstanding tickets.

By comparison, the jail can house 195 inmates per day, which means the city is responsible for less than one day’s worth of the jail’s total population capacity so far this year.

Durango Mayor Jessika Buell emerged from Friday’s executive session to say the city is considering legal action.

“Crime statistics prove that if municipal offenses are enforced, they deter offenders from committing more severe crimes in the future, prevent the jail population from continuing to grow … and help offenders change their path to a better future,” she said.

She said La Plata County commissioners should hold a public meeting and take public comment from Durango residents who are also county residents and taxpayers.

The mayor said she is confident the city and the county could have found a solution if they had worked together.

“However, the county chose not to ask for help and work together,” she said, “but instead had the sheriff provide a letter giving the city of Durango and the towns of Bayfield and Ignacio a mere two weeks’ notice.”

In his letter, Sheriff Smith said the city must negotiate and execute an intergovernmental agreement, or an IGA, with the county if it wants the jail to accept inmates on municipal offenses.

It turns out the city has had an IGA with the county since the 1990s, although it hasn’t been updated since.

In an interview Friday, Smith said he was previously unaware of the agreement.

“I wasn't aware of a ‘94 agreement; that was news to me,” he said. “We just sent a new, updated version of an IGA to San Juan County (Silverton), and that's the goal with all of the entities that house with us, is making sure that we have that language that covers liability.”

Smith said communication with municipalities has been an issue, and he hopes the Sheriff’s Office can reach a solution with the city without going to court.

“When we instantly say we're going to sue somebody over this letter, it doesn't help the situation,” Smith said. “We are saying, ‘Here's all of our problems, and for that reason we're taking this action.’”

Last year, the city hired its first full-time municipal judge in years, Matt Margeson, to begin holding court skippers accountable.

Previously, the city’s policy was to immediately release people who were summoned to court for petty offenses, such as trespassing or illegal camping. If people didn’t show up to court, there were no consequences – at least not jail.

“There is now a consequence to not appearing in court for a municipal court charge, where prior there was not (any) consequence at all,” Morgan said.

cburney@durangoherald.com