Sheriff’s overflow solution

El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa is pitching a new idea: He hopes to pitch a tent at the Criminal Justice Center.

“I think it’s safe to say the big top is coming to the CJC,” Maketa said.

It’s not the circus, but a heated 12,000-square-foot tent that Maketa says will house up to 180 inmates at the overflowing county jail.

The tent could be up in the jail’s north parking lot by the middle of March.

“The demand is exceeding our capacity,” Maketa said Wednesday. “I don’t want to get put into a situation where we can’t accept offenders because we’re full.”

It’s an idea that’s been done in warmer climates, most notably in Maricopa County, Ariz.

Maketa said it can be used here to house inmates on work release — a program that will be reactivated if the tent goes up — and those serving short sentences.

El Paso County commissioners voiced their support last week.

Though many details need to be worked out, including how much it would cost and how to pay for it, Maketa said it is the cheapest option available to get the county through the eight or nine months before the downtown Metro jail is renovated.

Maketa has been lobbying for a new jail for months, and county officials have begun drawing up plans for a $25 million to $40 million expansion. In January, his office publicized the fact the jail had reached a record capacity and was nearly full.

The cost to buy a tent and provide services could run as much as $200,000 a year, he said. The Sheriff’s Office would also need to hire 12 or 13 deputies to staff it.

Of course, as Wednesday’s weather proved, the climate here can be a lot rougher than Arizona’s, but Maketa said a massive heating unit would keep it at least 65 degrees, as required by state law.

“If it gets a little chilly on occasion, I think a little chill does the soul a little good,” Maketa said.

Though it wouldn’t be as secure as the jail, he said there would be a fence, possibly with razor wire, and possibly guard dogs.

“We’re going to make it hard to escape,” he said. “A person is going to experience pain if they try to do it.”

It would be self-sustained, with its own portable toilets for inmates and no showers. Food would be prepared and brought from the jail’s kitchen.

Maketa has broached the idea in the past, but always figured the Maricopa County approach — using military surplus tents that use ropes and poles, possible weapons — was too risky and a possible liability.

But he said one massive tent doesn’t carry those risks. He said it can be done humanely and wouldn’t necessarily need to be used by next winter.

But even if it takes several more weeks to set up, spring can be a snowy season here.

Elena Bost, an activist with inmate-rights group CURE of Southern Colorado, said the Maricopa County jail has been the subject of numerous lawsuits because of leaking, infestations and other issues.

“I think it’s very dehumanizing,” Bost said of the tent plan. “If we have this many people going into our jail, we need to rethink our policies.”

She plans to protest the plan to county commissioners.

The commissioners won’t have to approve the plan unless Maketa asks the board for the money to set it up, but they have already given verbal approval.

“We think it’s a temporary situation and by the time we get it up we think we’ll be through the worst of the cold weather,” board chairman Dennis Hisey said Wednesday.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 476-1605 or scott.rappold@gazette.com