Scoop: Inside Denver jail's new family-friendly reforms
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
The newly designed in-person visitation room at the Denver County Jail. Photo: Courtesy of the Denver Sheriff Department
The Denver Sheriff Department is overhauling how and where family visits are conducted at the county jail, Axios Denver has learned.
Why it matters: The revamp is part of a broader push toward progressive reforms inside Denver's jail system.
Driving the news: Sheriff Elias Diggins announced the move last Saturday at a Colorado Black Round Table event — remarks first reported by Axios Denver.
- Starting Thursday, the department will unveil a remodeled visitation space featuring murals, carpet, softer chairs and a smaller, more private room, replacing the stark white walls and long white table currently in use.
- The department is also changing its dress code for people in custody. They will now be allowed to swap inmate uniforms for regular clothes before contact visits.
What they're saying: The changes aim to make the experience less traumatic for children and families of those being held, and signal a significant shift toward normalizing the environment, Diggins said.
- Seeing a parent in an inmate uniform is something "you never get … out of your head," he recalled, describing memories of visiting his own father in the Denver County Jail.
Catch up quick: Last year, the sheriff department reinstated in-person visits for the first time in nearly 20 years.
- That same year, the agency launched a pilot program that gives inmates Colorado identification cards to save time when applying for services, employment, housing or school after their release.
- It also recently made phone calls free for inmates and cut call rates for families from 8 cents to 6 cents per minute, according to Diggins.
The big picture: With 97% of individuals in custody at the county jail expected to eventually return to the Denver community, Diggins said, the department is trying to create a less punitive, more rehabilitative system to prepare them to be "productive citizens."
- "We lead with our humanity," he said.