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El Paso County Jail

210 S. Tejon Street
Colorado Springs, CO 80903

Interview with Hillary, Tye, Eva, Richard and Victor

JM: How long was your sentencing for?
Hillary: My probation officer put out a warrant for each of my charges... I was in jail for 21 days and then bailed out. My bail was $5000 for each charge. I am still waiting to be sentenced.
Tye: 2 yrs department of correcions
Eva: 4 years dept of corrections
Richard: I was not sentence on that charge but spent 15 months in the county for it fighting the case.
Victor: 4 years deferred sentence on probation

JM: Did you spend time in a holding cell after your sentencing? If so, what was that like? If you didn't where did they they take you instead?
Hillary: Yes, in booking. I actually enjoyed being in the holding cell there. There was a bench I could lay down and go to sleep. If I would have stayed in booking, I would have had to just sit on a hard metal chair.
Tye: yes they held me and up to 30 people in a hol;ding cell that was 10 by 20 in the basement of the court house with out food until you return to your facility.
Eva: yes, it was hot and smelled there was 12 of us in the holding area when we asked for toilet paper or even pads we were put off for long periods of time and then treated like we were inconciencing them for having to get the items we needed to use the rest room..they expected us to hold our urine for the 6 hour transport holding time
Richard: Was never ultimately sentence, but yes ive spent so much time in holding cells its ridiculous just a hard room with nothing but a toilet sometimes not even. and you cant do nothing and stuck in literally at most 20ft by 8ft and thats at most
Victor: Yes i hat to sit on a hard surface not knowing i you are really going to court. one day my court was set for 8 and I didn't get called to come til 9.30

If you or someone you know will be spending some time in El Paso County Jail, you may be wondering what life inside the jail is like. Going to jail can be a scary experience, especially if it's your first time. The more information you have prior to your stay, the better prepared you can be for the experience.

We have interviewed former inmates of the El Paso County Jail, and compiled the following information based on those interviews. Links to the left will lead you directly to the interviews, where you can learn what life in this facility is really like.

Good Time
Due to the growing problem of overcrowding, many jails offer inmates a chance to get out early if they are well behaved. El Paso County Jail has a program that allows for early release. If you have been sentenced, you can apply to be a Trustee, and the time you spend working as a Trustee earns time off your sentence.

Trustees work in the jail 12 hours a day, 6 days a week.  It's hard work, but you can get up to 11 days per month off your sentence. Working also helps pass the time you have left.

Telephone Calls
Most inmates like to talk to family and friends while they are incarcerated. El Paso County provides phones for the inmates so they can maintain contact with the outside world. There are two ways to pay for phone calls. The person you are calling can set up an account through their phone company, and can prepay for your calls.

They have to pay in increments of $25, and a 15 minute call costs $4-5. The second option is to purchase a calling card off commissary. These cost $20 and are good for 20 minutes on the phone. You should expect that the jail will monitor all your phone calls.

Passing the Time
One of the most challenging aspects of serving time is finding ways to alleviate boredom. The jail has some resources that are designed to help pass the time. TV's are available to the inmates. However, to hear the TV, you need to purchase a headset off commissary ($17) and batteries ($2).

You can expect that you will probably have to work within the group to come to a consensus about what to watch. The jail also has playing cards available for sale through commissary. Books are available to read, but inmates have reported they are often incomplete and that there is a poor selection.


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