Yuma County Jail is closed.
Sheriff Todd Combs announced late last week that the prison would be permanently closed due to ongoing staffing shortages.
“We have decided to close Ray’s prison facility because the Sheriff’s Office is unable to hire qualified prison personnel for the seven or more vacant positions in Warden, set at $18 an hour.” Logan, Sterling The county jail will continue to house Yuma County inmates until further notice,” he said in a statement released last Thursday, June 1.
Yuma County Commissioners Scott Weaver, Mike Reeler, and Adam Gates held a working session this Tuesday morning to discuss the situation. At this time, they have not released any public comment on it.
They are in the process of setting up a public meeting with Sheriff Combs. At the time of writing this article, the date is undecided.
Prison staffing has been an ongoing problem over the past two years.
Mr. Combs first alerted commissioners to the situation in February 2022. He said prison guards’ hourly wages aren’t 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.
That was the first time he said closing prisons was a realistic possibility. Combs offered a salary structure with an entry-level starting salary of $18 an hour.
No action was taken on wages, and Mr. Combs met with officials last September to discuss closing the prison.
In October, full-time operations at the Yuma County Jail were suspended for falling below minimum staffing requirements.
It continued to operate as a holding facility for recent arrests and as a transfer facility to and from other facilities for court dates. Combs said at the time that the starting salary for a prison lieutenant should be $20 an hour.
To fully staff the prison and return it to full-time operation, commissioners agreed to a starting salary of $18 an hour for fiscal 2023.
But Mr. Combs reported last week that he was unable to hire seven or eight people qualified to reopen the prison and decided to permanently close it.
