Inmates’ charges no longer listed on Web site

The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office this week stopped listing charges inmates face on its Web site after finding out it was leading to assaults in the jail.

Inmates’ friends and relatives were relaying the information they found online to prisoners, who then attacked other inmates, particularly those facing sex-assault charges, sheriff’s spokeswoman Lt. Lari Sevene said Friday.

“Or the inmates would track down someone, thinking the person attacked their brother or something, and when they saw the charges, put two and two together,” she said. “The inmates were telling us that this is where they were getting their information.”

Before the change, anyone could log on to the sheriff’s Web site and look up an inmate’s information, including name, facial and body features, the charges they faced, their bond amount and next court date.

Some of the inmates who were assaulted had to be treated at hospitals, Sevene said. She did not know how many assaults resulted from information about offenses found on the Web site and relayed to other inmates.

Sevene did not say how many guards are assigned to the jail, but officials were concerned that there weren’t enough to prevent all the assaults.

Sevene said there is one guard assigned to the larger wards, which hold 80 to 90 inmates. There were 1,571 inmates at the jail as of Friday morning, Sevene said.

“We want to make sure everyone is safe. We don’t care what their charges are. It goes back to the concept of innocent until proven guilty,” she said. “To protect the inmates — that’s what we’re here for. So that’s why when these things come up, we make the necessary changes.”

Inmates guilty of assaults at the jail face discipline as well as criminal charges. It was unknown Friday whether anyone has been punished or charged for assaulting another inmate.

People can still look up an inmate’s information, but will only see what class of felony or misdemeanor it is. Inmates can be found by their last name or their booking number.

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