Closing Rifle, Colorado Correctional Center a risky move for state, public safety

Editorial

Once you close something down, it rarely comes back, whether it’s a business or a government-run facility.

That’s a big concern with Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter’s planned closure of the Rifle Correctional Center as part of his budget plan to address a $1 billion shortfall.

The center is a 192-bed, minimum security prison, located on a 23-acre site eight miles from the city of Rifle.

One of the main benefits the center has provided, maybe since it opened in the 1960s, is inmate labor that has helped city, county and non-profit groups with maintenance, repair and other work. Inmates also earned their high school general education degree, took college classes, vocational training and a reintegration program intended to reduce recidivism. The prison is home to a certified firefighting crew that has responded to wildfires across Colorado and other states.

The center employs 57 people, all local residents, some of them undoubtedly for a long time. They spend their paychecks in our businesses and send their kids to our schools. The state would also sell the property and water rights at the Rifle site.

To his credit, the governor has recommended many other cuts along with the closure of the Rifle prison and the 210-bed Colorado Women's Correctional Facility in Canon City. If state lawmakers approve, the closures of both prisons would occur May 31 and save the state nearly $11 million. The women’s facility employs 71 full-time workers, and both closures would require the transfer and double-bunking of inmates at other facilities.

The Colorado Department of Corrections would save $600,000 in annual operating expenses at Rifle and $2.1 million at the women’s prison.

Republican Senators Josh Penry of Grand Junction, the Senate minority leader, and Al White of Hayden, who represents the western part of the county and is the Senate Republican member on the powerful Joint Budget Committee, said they will fight Ritter's plan to close the Rifle facility.

"I don't think it makes sense to close the facility for a number of reasons," said White. "Our prisons are full as it is and if we close the Rifle prison now and down the line need to build another prison, all cost-saving plans will be negated."

White also said the Rifle facility has one of the lowest inmate recidivism rates in the state.

Last weekend, Colorado Attorney General John Suthers warned in a Rocky Mountain News story that closing prisons could endanger public safety. In his words, it may be “short-sighted” and made him “nervous,” if lawmakers also reduce sentences due to budget concerns. Suthers said such a combination could be “a perfect storm” with some “very adverse effects for public safety.”

One reader wondered why Garfield County couldn’t purchase the Rifle prison instead of building a jail annex by the county regional airport south of Rifle. County Commissioner Tresi Houpt said while such an idea may seem to make sense, law enforcement’s needs have changed drastically over the last 40 years, so the Rifle state prison may not meet the needs of the county sheriff without extensive - and expensive - remodeling.

But the idea should be explored. It might save some of those 57 jobs when jobs are becoming as precious as water.