The Yuma County Sheriff’s Office presented plans to reopen the county jail at the last Yuma County Commission.
Sheriff Todd Combs said this was the last attempt to present a reopening plan.
In a meeting, the commissioners decided to settle the prison situation until November, according to a memo posted by the sheriff on the YCSO Facebook page.

However, County Commissioner Brandi Ritchie said the commissioner’s office had not raised the financial debate and that commissioners will continue to discuss reopening the prisons. He noted that commissioners will begin the 2024 budget process in September and no decisions can be made until all parts of the budget are finalized in November.
As previously reported, Sheriff Combs announced in early June that the prison would be permanently closed due to continued staffing shortages. Local law enforcement is transferring those arrested to the Logan County Jail in Sterling.
Last October, full-time work at the Yuma County Jail was suspended because it fell short of minimum staffing requirements. The facility opened until June 1 as a holding facility for recent arrests and as a transfer facility to and from other facilities for court dates.
Prison staffing has been an ongoing problem over the past two years.
Combs first alerted the secretary to the situation in February 2022. He said prison guards’ hourly wages were not even competitive with many other entry-level jobs, and provided a long list of such jobs. He also said it was a very difficult job and that he could make as much or more if he worked in a less stressful environment.
Mr. Combs and Sergeant Joe Wells presented the reopening plan at the last Secretary’s meeting.
A sheriff’s memo shared on the YCSO’s Facebook page states that the secretary has changed two previous plans he has put forward for 2022, offering a lower starting salary than the sheriff’s request. Combs said his office was unable to retain and hire qualified staff as a result.
The latest plan calls for a starting salary of $24 for untrained and qualified new hires. Starting salaries for experienced individuals are determined by the sheriff and prison supervisors. All existing lieutenants and supervisors employed by the prison will immediately receive a salary increase that reflects the proposed starting salary. The same applies to all lieutenants and supervisors on the YCSO’s patrol side in order to equalize salaries on the YCSO’s prison and patrol sides.
This figure was provided to the commissioners on 16 May.
The proposal calls for funding a total of 12 prison jobs, including two overseers.
New requirements were also imposed on courtroom security and the employment of full-time nurses in prisons. Combs’ plan is to pay for court security jobs entirely by subsidy, which is $90,000 this year. The county will pay for benefits and other costs.
Counties must fund nursing jobs, which are now required by state law.
The Combs memo concludes: I’ve allowed BOCC to change plans twice so far, and both times have failed miserably. If BOCC chooses not to meet the points outlined above to reopen prisons, I intend to proceed with the development of a plan that does not include prison operations within the county. Closing the prison would cost 10 jobs and possibly family members from the community and county, lose the income generated by housing out-of-county inmates, and put a strain on the public safety provided by law enforcement. there is this county. ”
Ritchie shared that the requested increase would be devastating just seven months into the 2023 fiscal year. The 2023 budget was approved in December 2022.