Spending winter in a tent at CJC
Work-release inmates have no choice, but it is heated, has restrooms
Sleeping in a tent might be fun for summer trips, but once the snow starts falling, most campers head indoors.
That’s not an option for work-release inmates at the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center.
As snow blanketed Colorado Springs on Monday night, about 100 inmates slept in bunk beds in a 14,000-square-foot white vinyl tent pitched in the parking lot outside the jail complex on East Las Vegas Street.
But the tent, which can hold 200 inmates, strives to keep its occupants toasty no matter the weather, with seven propane heaters pumping hot air inside, El Paso County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Lt. Lari Sevene said.
“We started this when it was snowing last year,” Sevene said, referring to the jail’s opening days in April.
Sheriff Terry Maketa set up the tent 10 months ago to alleviate crowded conditions in the jail, which often houses 1,500 inmates per day, up from an average of 800 per day a decade ago.
The county once sent work-release inmates to the downtown Metro Jail, which closed in 2004 because of safety concerns. The county is renovating the facility, and it could be finished in a few months, Sevene said.
After it’s done, the future of the tent isn’t clear, she said.
Work release’s low-level offenders, often serving time for offenses such as failure to appear in court and driving under the influence, work their normal jobs during the day, then return to the tent to sleep.
That’s even when it’s icy out. Tuesday afternoon, a layer of snow covered part of the shiny white tent.
Inmates spend 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. in the tent each weekday, Sevene said. When it’s empty, the heaters don’t run, but once turned on, they warm up the interior within 20 minutes, she said.
Monthly heating bill? Roughly $8,000 to $10,000.
Sandbags seal the tent walls to the floor, which is composed of 1,200 pallets covered by carpet. Heated trailers west of the tent house restrooms with hot and cold water.
Sevene said she didn’t know of any inmates who had complained of being too cold.
Bryan Thomas, 28, has about two weeks left on his monthlong work-release sentence for driving with a suspended license. During the day he works, showers and eats, then returns to the tent for the evening.
Inmates can relax by watching two flat-screen televisions before heading to bed. Each person gets three blankets instead of the two distributed inside the jail building, Thomas said.
“They keep it generally heated,” Thomas said. “Sometimes it does get a little cold in there when the temperature’s really bad outside.
“For the most part you really don’t hear too many complaining.”
People do complain about the $22 per day they’re charged to stay in the tent, Thomas said.
That goes toward the cost of running the tent, Sevene said.
The American Civil Liberties Union’s National Prison Project examines prison conditions across the country. Right now it’s in the midst of a lawsuit with the Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff’s Office for the conditions in its tent jails as well as in other jail buildings, ACLU spokeswoman Jody Kent said.
“Given the history (of tent jails), it is a concern of ours,” Kent said.
Denying inmates basic rights — no heat, no water, no access to restrooms — would draw the ACLU’s attention, Kent said.
CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0274 or jennifer.wilson@gazette.com
