Action 22 Urges Interested Citizens to Attend a Prison Oriented Meeting

On June 11-12, the Colorado Departments of Local Affairs and Corrections and the Governor’s Offices of Economic Development & International Trade and State Planning & Budgeting, will co-host meetings to discuss the State’s plan forward for appropriately utilizing state prisons and assisting communities which may be adversely impacted by potential prison closures in the future.   

JUNE 11-Tuesday

12:30 – 2:00 pm         Ordway – Crowley County Senior Center, 401 Colorado Ave, Ordway

3:15 – 4:45 pm           Las Animas – Las Animas Elementary School, 531 Poplar, Las Animas

7:30 – 9:00 pm           Trinidad – Trinidad State Junior College Student Center, 600 Prospect St.

Because of a variety of factors, Colorado’s prison population has been declining in recent years and this has created an excess capacity of prison beds.  In 2012, the Colorado General Assembly commissioned the Prison Utilization Study which directed the Department of Corrections to conduct a system-wide analysis that identifies the most appropriate and cost-effective uses of the available public and private inmate beds.

Pursuant to statute, the Office of State Planning and Budgeting will work with the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee to develop a plan going forward.

The State is very aware of the important role many of these prisons play in local economies, and we are committed to doing everything we can to minimize potential adverse impacts caused by changes in prison use and mitigate unavoidable impacts. In the most recent legislative session, the General Assembly approved funding for a proactive partnership between the Department of Local Affairs and Office of Economic Development and International Trade to engage impacted communities in a comprehensive effort to diversify local economies; we will also discuss this opportunity as part this upcoming community meeting.

This 90-minute meeting will include representatives from each of the hosting entities, and will allow plenty of time for questions from and open discussion.   We hope you can join us for this discussion.

Contact Linda Rice for more information at 303-866-6249 or linda.rice@state.co.us