Media Release from Prowers County Sheriff’s Office

12-29-2022

REF: Sheriff’s Office & Town of Holly Municipal Law Enforcement Contract

The Prowers County Sheriff’s Office would like to notify the public that the Town of Holly has chosen to not renew their contract with PCSO for law enforcement services, moving into the year 2023. This requires the turn back of one of the Office vehicles used for patrol as well as the loss of a deputy. The Sheriff’s Office is working to keep the deputy on staff as PCSO has lost positions over the last 20 years and this would create a short-coming with the services PCSO provides.

The town of Holly is an incorporated statutory town in the State of Colorado. The Colorado Revised Statutes (CRS) provide guidance for Incorporated Cities/Towns within the State. Per C.R.S. 31-4-102(2) “The Mayor of the city shall be its chief executive officer and conservator of the peace, and it is his special duty to cause the ordinances and the regulations of the city to be faithfully and constantly obeyed.”…”The Mayor has and shall exercise, within the city limits, the powers conferred upon the sheriffs of counties to suppress disorders and keep the peace.” This meaning the town’s mayor is responsible for law enforcement in the absence of a contract for those services or a police chief/department, which incorporated towns statutorily provide.

Sheriff Zordel would like to express that non-emergent calls will be given to the town office, and PCSO will respond accordingly to emergent calls as appropriate and investigate them as normal. However, there will not be deputies within the town for the contract required 160 hours a month, and response times will likely vary due to this. PCSO provides dedicated law enforcement services within the unincorporated areas of the county and will respond to emergent calls within the towns of Holly, Wiley, and Hartman as we always have.

This is the first time in 20 years the contract has not been renewed.

Sheriff Sam Zordel

(Editor’s Note:  When contacted by the Prowers Journal, Holly Town Administrator, Randy Holland replied the town is currently exploring its options for law enforcement coverage.  On average, the annual cost of coverage for the Town of Holly by the Prowers County Sheriff’s Office has been $58,000.

In an historical context from a Prowers Journal article, “the Holly Trustees met in April, 2016 to set up a timetable for discussion of re-establishing a Holly Police Department.  This was a matter brought before the trustees late last year and had been considered by the town several years ago when Marsha Willhite was Holly Administrator.  At that time, she provided financial information during a September 2014 meeting that showed average annual costs between 1995 and 2000 for the local police force at $90,000.  The staff during that period included one marshal, two patrol officers and one person in administration.  Figures provided by then Prowers County Sheriff, Jim Faull, estimated the town would have to spend $137,000 to re-establish a 24/7, 365 day a year police force for 4.7 officers.  The local force was disbanded in 2001 when Holly contracted with the Sheriff’s office for coverage.”
Russ Baldwin