Search the Montezuma County Inmate Population

Montezuma County Inmate Population

The local inmate population is centered on the Montezuma County Jail, also described by the county as the Detention Center and the Sheriff's Office Detention Division. The facility is run by the Montezuma County Sheriff's Office in Cortez and is the only local detention facility resolved by the facility map. No state prison, federal prison, ICE detention center, or separate regional jail was identified inside Montezuma County, so local jail figures should not be mixed with CDOC, BOP, or immigration custody counts.

The jail population includes pretrial inmates, county-sentenced inmates, parole violators, and people awaiting transport to the Colorado Department of Corrections. Sheriff's reports also use local billing and custody categories such as municipal prisoners, DOC holds, DCSO prisoners, Mancos and Dolores categories, courtesy holds, arrests, releases, and daily prisoner-day totals. Those categories explain why the same person may appear first in a local jail count, then later in a court docket, CDOC locator, federal locator, or ICE locator depending on the case path.

Montezuma County Inmate Statistics

The county's official Detention Division page says the jail was built in 2001 and designed to hold 104 inmates. Vera Institute county trend rows show a 2025 Montezuma County jail population of 70, with 44 pretrial and 26 sentenced. That 2025 figure sits below the designed capacity, but the county also reports that occupancy normally runs near 90 percent and has historically reached 143 percent. Both points matter: recent averages may look stable while the facility still has a documented overcrowding history.

Montezuma County Jail Trends

Vera's multi-year rows show the Montezuma County inmate population moving up and down rather than following a straight trend. The recent peak in the captured table was 109.5 in 2019, which was above the jail's 104-bed design capacity. The 2020 through 2025 rows sit below capacity, with 2024 at 79.5 and 2025 at 70. The county's own page still notes past occupancy as high as 143 percent, so a single current average does not erase the facility's capacity pressure history.

The June 2024 sheriff report gives a separate operational snapshot. It recorded 143 total arrests, 138 releases, 4 DOC holds, and 2,036 total daily prisoner-days. That prisoner-day figure should not be quoted as a headcount unless the method is stated. Dividing by 30 days would imply about 67.9 people per day for that month, but the report labels the source figure as total daily prisoners or days rather than as a monthly average.

Montezuma County Custody Mix

The current public sources do not give a full live demographic dashboard for Montezuma County jail custody. Race, ethnicity, age band, felony versus misdemeanor split, and current hold-by-agency fields were not located in complete official form. The most reliable current split in the research is the Vera pretrial and sentenced split. In 2024, the data showed about 76 percent pretrial and 24 percent sentenced. In 2025, it showed about 63 percent pretrial and 37 percent sentenced.

• Pretrial inmates: People held before trial, plea, dismissal, or other disposition in Montezuma County court.
• County-sentenced inmates: People serving a local jail sentence rather than a state prison term.
• Parole violators and DOC holds: People held because of state correctional action or pending transport.
• Municipal and courtesy holds: Local reports may count prisoners tied to Cortez, Mancos, Dolores, or another agency.

Montezuma County Jail Capacity

The official jail capacity is 104 beds. The county states that the facility usually runs around 90 percent of capacity but has reached 143 percent at times. Vera's recent rows show 2020 through 2025 averages below the design capacity, while the 2019 row was above capacity. For users trying to understand the Montezuma County inmate population, the useful point is not just the latest number. The local jail can move between routine levels and stress periods based on arrests, court timing, bond decisions, DOC transport delays, and outside holds.

The capacity topic now also connects to Colorado jail standards. Local reporting in March 2026 said Montezuma County staff were reviewing the new state rules, rewriting policies, using a state compliance portal, and considering variances before enforceable compliance begins July 1, 2026. The standards cover areas such as booking, holding, medical and behavioral health, sanitation, food, safety, classification, staffing, and operations. Those reforms affect how the jail manages people in custody, not just how many beds are filled.

Montezuma County Inmate Laws

Colorado law separates general public records from criminal justice records. That matters for jail data, booking reports, mugshots, court files, and custody information. The sheriff's Records Division and the courts may release some records while withholding or redacting others due to juvenile status, sealed cases, public-interest limits, court orders, ongoing investigations, or privacy rules. A Montezuma County inmate population search should therefore begin with the right custodian, not with the assumption that every jail fact is posted online.

Montezuma County State Prison Search

A sentenced state-prison inmate from Montezuma County is no longer searched as part of the local jail roster. The public statewide channel is the Colorado Department of Corrections offender search. CDOC search tips say the DOC number is the best identifier, and name searches return names beginning with the letters entered. CDOC also warns that database data can contain errors, so the department should be contacted when a record needs official confirmation.

There is no CDOC prison physically located in Montezuma County in the facility map. County jail staff may hold a person awaiting transport to DOC, and sheriff reports show DOC holds, but the custody system changes after transfer. CDOC also has its own visitation, mail, phone, and money rules. County jail contact instructions do not apply once the person is in state prison custody.

Search Montezuma County Inmates

No official Montezuma County Sheriff's Office online jail roster, current-inmate list, or recent-booking search portal was located on the official county or sheriff site during the research pass. That finding changes the lookup path. A current local custody search starts with the Detention Division phone line. Older booking records, incarceration history, and booking photos move through the Records Division or the sheriff's NextRequest portal.

The local arrest side channel is Cortez Police CRIMEWATCH. The city police portal can show arrest posts, warrant posts, incident entries, photos, court references, bond notes, or custody updates when Cortez Police publishes them. It is not a Montezuma County jail roster, so a CRIMEWATCH entry should be treated as an arrest clue that still needs confirmation from the jail, records staff, or the court.

1. Start with the person's full name, date of birth or age, arrest date, arresting agency, and any case or incident number.
2. Call the Montezuma County Jail Detention Division at (970) 564-4995 or the Detention/CJS contact at (970) 564-4971 for current local custody.
3. For an older booking, request an inmate incarceration history, booking report, or mugshot from the Records Division or NextRequest.
4. Use Colorado VINE through VINELink for custody notification when participating data is available.
5. Switch to CDOC, BOP, or ICE when the person is in state prison, federal prison, or immigration custody.

Montezuma County Current Custody

Because no official public jail roster was located, the search-field table for Montezuma County is a gap table rather than a roster form. This is still useful. It prevents readers from relying on private jail directories that may publish stale or unsupported data. For current jail custody, the official channel is the jail's Detention Division. For record copies, the official channel is the sheriff's Records Division or NextRequest.

Montezuma County Past Records

Past and released inmate records are handled through record requests rather than a visible archive roster. The sheriff's Records page lists inmate incarceration history at $10 and booking reports or mugshots at $2.50. It also lists printed reports or photocopies at $0.25 per page, redaction at an added $0.25 per page, and in-depth or large requests at $35 per hour charged in half-hour increments. Payment must be received before records are released, and records may be mailed after payment or released electronically through the records portal.

The county-wide CORA form is a different public-record route for administrative county records. It lists $0.25 per page, actual postage or shipping, one free hour of employee research, added employee research time at $33.58 per hour on the located form, and a deposit requirement for requests estimated over $200. For sheriff booking records, use the sheriff Records Division and CCJRA language first. For broader county administrative records, use the CORA form.

Montezuma County Inmate Records

The county did not publish an online jail profile to inspect, so no page should claim that a Montezuma County jail roster displays a booking number, housing unit, bond, charges, photo, or release field online. The county fee schedule proves that some jail-related records are requestable. Exact fields depend on the record released by the Records Division and any required redactions.

County Jail or State Prison

The Montezuma County inmate population can split quickly after arrest. The county jail handles the local custody stage. The court handles charges, hearings, and disposition. CDOC handles sentenced state-prison custody after transfer. BOP handles federal prisoners, and ICE ODLS handles immigration custody. A good search follows the custody status rather than searching every database as though they are the same system.

State Federal Inmate Search

The BOP inmate locator covers federal prisoners in BOP custody from 1982 forward. Its public result fields include name, register number, age, race, sex, release date, and location. BOP cautions that release dates may change and that a person shown as released or not in BOP custody may still be in another criminal-justice system. No BOP facility was identified in Montezuma County.

ICE ODLS uses an A-number and country of birth or a biographical search. ICE's factsheet says minors under 18 are not searchable through ODLS. The Colorado field office contact located in the research is Denver ERO in Centennial. ICE custody is not the same thing as a Montezuma County jail roster, even when a local jail report or news story mentions a detainer.

Montezuma County Detention Facility

The facility map resolves to one local detention facility. Cortez Police, CDOC, BOP, and ICE are important record channels, but the research did not identify separate city, state, federal, or immigration detention facilities inside Montezuma County.

• Montezuma County Jail - the county jail for pretrial inmates, county-sentenced inmates, parole violators, DOC holds, municipal prisoners, and other local custody categories documented in county reports.

Montezuma County Inmate FAQ

How big is the Montezuma County inmate population? Vera's 2025 county trend row lists a jail population of 70, while the official Detention Division page lists 104 beds. The county also reports normal occupancy around 90 percent and past peaks as high as 143 percent.

Is there an official Montezuma County jail roster? No official county jail roster or current-inmate search page was located in the reviewed sheriff and county sources. Use the Detention Division for current custody and the Records Division or NextRequest for booking records.

Can released inmate records be requested? Yes, the sheriff's fee schedule lists inmate incarceration history and booking reports or mugshots. Redactions, fees, payment timing, and custodian review still apply under Colorado criminal-justice-record rules.

Where do sentenced state prisoners show up? Once a person is transferred into state prison custody, use the CDOC offender search rather than the county jail channels.