Inmate Classification
Inmate Classification is responsible for assigning a security classification to each inmate after being booked into one of the two detention facilities, the Criminal Justice Center or the Metro Detention Facility. Each facility contains several types of wards or cells. The Classification Office considers various factors when determining an inmate's classification and placement; however, an inmate's classification can be changed even after being admitted.
Inmate Fraud Program
In December of 1995 the El Paso County Sheriff's Office was the first Colorado sheriff's office to implement an anti-fraud program designed to identify inmates to federal, state, and local public assistance agencies with the intent to cease illegal benefit payments to incarcerated persons.
Individuals who are incarcerated are not entitled to receive benefits from the Social Security Administration, Colorado Division of Employment and Training, and Department of Social Services; these benefits are in the form of SSI, disability, unemployment, food stamps, and AFDC payments.
On a weekly basis, the Sheriff's Office has been notifying the appropriate local, state, and federal agencies of the names, social security numbers, and birth dates of all inmates in our county detention facilities. These agencies compare the lists against names of their benefit recipients. When a match is discovered, that agency commences actions to stop payments to the respective inmate while the inmate is incarcerated. The program has resulted in a substantial savings of taxpayers' money.
Since the inception of this program, the efforts of the Sheriff's Office have directly led to $1,196,302.98 of tax dollars being protected from fraudulent abuse.