PUEBLO COUNTY, Colo. (KOAA) — The Pueblo County Sheriff's Office (PCSO) says all Pueblo County inmates have been successfully transferred to the new county facility.
According to the sheriff's office, they received the Certificate of Occupancy from the City of Pueblo on Monday and immediately began executing their transition.
All inmates have been safely transferred to the new facility on Medal of Honor Boulevard, and the former jail is now closed.
All jail-related operations and services have been moved to the new facility.
“This is a truly historic day for public safety in Pueblo County. Opening this new jail has been a long time coming, and we’re grateful to finally see it become a reality."
“Our team spent more than a year preparing for this transition, and once we received the Certificate of Occupancy from the City of Pueblo, we were ready to execute a carefully planned move. Every decision throughout the planning process focused on the safety of our community, our employees, and the inmates in our care. I want to thank Detention Bureau Chief Paul Toth, our command staff, our employees and all our partner agencies whose professionalism made this historic transition possible.”
A team of personnel from the U.S. Marshals Service, the Pueblo Police Department, the Colorado State Patrol, and American Medical Response transported 393 inmates.
The former jail was 46 years old, and PCSO says it exceeded its intended capacity and lifespan. It struggled with the following;
- limited bed space
- deteriorating infrastructure
- outdated safety features
The new facility has;
- 672 beds
- an expanded medical clinic and infirmary
- a full-service kitchen
- modern laundry facilities
- an inmate programming space
- an expanded administrative area
- a training room
- a larger evidence storage area
As of Saturday, the facility is fully operational. You can read more about the new facility here.
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