From the desk of the Sheriff, a look back at 2019. I wanted to give the citizens of Yuma County an accounting of how 2019 went for the Sheriff’s Office. The Yuma County Sheriff’s Office experienced several challenges early in the year in staffing, transition from the outgoing administration, financial processes, and inventory. The Office has worked tirelessly to correct these issues. I have been told by my staff posts can be too long, so I will forewarn you it’s probably going to happen again. When I came in we were at half-staff throughout the Office and with that came challenges of getting calls covered and running a Jail. The staff that was there was efficient and hard working. They gave me a chance and I told them to look at everything they did and figure out how to do it better with less redundancy. I then stepped back and got out of their way. This decision led to a streamlining of procedures that allowed the Office to handle the work load without being at full strength. Over the course of time we are [...]

It has been a busy two months since taking office on January 8th. First of all I would like to take a moment to thank the citizens of Yuma County for being patient with us as we make this transition and bear with us as we make some changes. The Board of County Commissioners, Andrea Calhoon, the county administrator and the other elected officials have been a great resources to draw from as I learn my way around budgeting, personnel issues and other unseen issues that have arisen. While the transition itself was mostly smooth there were a few bumps in the road but we are working through some of the complications. The staff at the Sheriff’s Office are a strong team and have helped me immensely to acclimate to my role as your Sheriff. Molly Brunk and Suzan Weed, who man the front office, have both thrown their full effort into looking at things with a critical eye and seeing if we need to change our methods of business, for that I am grateful. We have revamped and streamed lined many of the [...]

January 7, 2019 – Joshua Dean Hansen (31), formerly of Yuma, was sentenced today by the Yuma County District Court for his involvement in a 2016 shooting that ultimately resulted in a search warrant being executed on his home. The search warrant yielded important evidence for the shooting case as well as an extremely large amount of suspected methamphetamine (approximately 7 pounds), cocaine (approximately 3 ounces), marijuana and marijuana concentrates in various forms (approximately 51 pounds), ecstasy, suspected synthetic drugs, several prescription drugs, firearms and other illegal weapons, and stolen antiques from a reported burglary earlier that summer. Hansen appeared before District Court Judge Michael Singer pleading guilty to Possession of a Schedule II Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute Over 225 grams. Judge Singer sentenced Hansen to 23 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC).