Rising Inmate Numbers Put Pressure On Colorado To Expand Prison System

By: Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado

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

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