Garfield County Commission, Rifle City Council unite to oppose Rifle Correctional Center closure

Taylor Cramer/Post Independent
Garfield County commissioners and Rifle City councillors met Thursday to strategize against the possible closure of the Rifle Correctional Center. The facility, which provides over 50 jobs, has sparked a countywide push to protect its economic and community impact.
A December proposal to the Colorado General Assembly’s Joint Budget Committee (JBC) by corrections analyst Justin Brakke recommends closing the facility to address a budget deficit.
Rifle City Manager Patrick Waller opened the meeting by addressing the state’s abrupt notification about the potential closure.
“The state reached out to us belatedly about a potential closure of the correctional facility,” Waller said. “The city of Rifle has written a letter and submitted it to the Joint Budget Committee for their consideration.”
Garfield County commissioners shared updates on their outreach efforts to state lawmakers. Commissioner Chair Tom Jankovsky explained their coordinated approach.
“We split up calling our representatives and senators,” Jankovsky said. “Representative (Elizabeth) Velasco fully supports keeping the facility open and we have already reached out to Senators (Dylan) Roberts and (Marc) Catlin.”
While the Rifle Correctional Center is located in Rifle, it falls just outside of Catlin’s District 5 and instead lies in District 8, represented by Roberts.
Commissioner Mike Samson stressed the need for a unified stance and expressed frustration with the repeated threats to the facility.
“Every 10 years or so, this rears its ugly head,” Samson said. “We just get everyone together, and we say, ‘No, you guys can’t do that.’ That’s what we are going to have to do as a united front.”
Commissioner Perry Will, a former state senator, state representative and now a Garfield County commissioner, shared his proactive efforts to protect the facility.
“I’ve reached out to every member of the JBC,” Will said. “I know of four on that committee who are on our side.”
Will highlighted that Sen. Jeff Bridges, who serves as chair of the JBC, Rep. Shannon Bird, the vice chair, Rep. Rick Taggert, the only Western Slope committee member, and Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer are all supportive of keeping the facility open.
“We need a 4-2 vote in that committee, and I think we’re there. That is my feeling,” Will said.
Travis Horton, Garfield County Security Supervisor and a former employee of the Rifle Correctional Center, spoke about the facility’s broader impact.
“From a business standpoint, I now work with community corrections just outside of Rifle, and we’ve been in contract with the Rifle facility since 2007 for our food service operations,” Horton said. “They provide that resource to us through an intergovernmental agreement, and we’re not equipped to go without it. It’s been a very strong and stable relationship for many years, and losing it would certainly be impactful to the county and our program specifically.”
During Thursday’s meeting, Samson said that the town of Parachute, as well as New Castle also expressed their support to keep the Rifle Correctional Center open, adding to the growing list of local government entities advocating to keep the facility open.
“They are all backing us on this, because they know how important it is,” Samson said. “And I am sure Silt backs us on this too.”
Samson also noted that The Associated Governments of Northwest Colorado (AGNC), representing Garfield, Mesa, Moffat, and Rio Blanco counties, is also stepping in.
“Our state legislators listen to AGNC,” Samson said. “This is a strong, unified voice that carries a lot of weight.”
Local leaders stressed the importance of continued advocacy as the JBC reviews the matter.
“The more we speak up, the more they hear from the community,” Will said. “I feel pretty good about where we are, but we need to keep pushing.”
While the proposal was originally scheduled to come before the JBC on Thursday, the discussion was pushed back to Friday.

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