Polis Punts Decision To Open Shuttered Prison In Cañon City

CANON CITY, CO – By John Herrick for The Colorado Independent. Colorado’s prisons are 99 percent full, and the inmate population is projected to rise. But Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, who has made criminal justice reform one of his priorities as the state’s new governor, has so far held off on opening another prison.

Unlike his predecessor, John Hickenlooper, Polis is not yet sold on adding more prison beds to the state’s correctional system.

“We seek holistic reform that will avoid unnecessary incarceration, safely reduce the critical capacity issues facing our prison system, provide opportunities to minimize the use of private prisons, and better prepare individuals for life beyond bars,” Polis wrote in a letter accompanying the $33.7 billion state budget released on Tuesday.

Notably, there was no budget for the Department of Corrections, which oversees the state’s prison system.

The administration has not decided whether it wants to open Centennial South Correctional Facility, a shuttered prison in Cañon City. It is taking more time to finalize the Department of Corrections’ budget while it considers ways to manage the state’s limited prison capacity and achieve reforms, according to the state budget director.

In 2010, when Hickenlooper was elected, there was talk in the state legislature about closing a state prison. That year kicked off what would become a steady decline in the number of inmates in Colorado. But that trend is now beginning to shift. And ten years later, the situation is almost the opposite.

The prison population has reached 20,200, a three-year high. There are fewer than 100 open state prison beds, not including community corrections beds or private prison beds, according to an analysis of state data. Meanwhile, state estimates show the prison population could swell to 25,000 by 2022, far exceeding current bed counts. That’s in part because felony case filings in district courts are on the rise. Drug possession and dealing cases make up the largest share of those filings.

To ease the prospect of prison overcrowding, the Hickenlooper administration repeatedly sought money and authorization to re-open Centennial South, formerly known as Colorado State Penitentiary II, or CSPI II, a high-security prison built in Cañon City in 2010 to house solitary-confinement prisoners. The prison closed two years later after the state decided to discontinue long-term isolation as a form of punishment, and it has sat empty ever since.

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Democratic governor-elect Jared Polis speaks at his midterm election night party in Denver, Colorado. Nov. 6, 2018. (Photo by John Herrick)