Denver Sheriff Department

The Denver Sheriff Department is the third largest criminal justice agency in the State of Colorado, following the Denver Police Department and the Colorado Department of Corrections. Thirty percent (30%) of all inmates sentenced to the Colorado Department of Corrections are from the City and County of Denver.

Currently within the department are positions for 3 Division Chiefs, 6 Majors, 18 Captains, 70 Sergeants and 673 deputies and 119 civilians.

The Denver jails hold the distinction for being the first local detention facilities in the United States to be accredited by the American Correctional Association (ACA). This distinction will again be realized with the opening of the Denver Justice Center. Both facilities also hold accreditation by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC).

According to the Department's web page, "The City and County of Denver does not have an elected sheriff, the Manager of Safety is the ex officio sheriff and the department is directly supervised by the Director of Corrections, who is also the Undersheriff."

The building on the right is the Pre-Arraignment Detention Facility in downtown Denver. The building on the left is the Denver Police administration building.

The Denver Sheriff Department was created on December 2, 1902 with the formation of the combined city and county of Denver. Both the manager of safety and undersheriff are appointed to office by the mayor of Denver and work at his/her pleasure. Since Denver does not have a sheriff per se, the agency is dubbed Denver Sheriff Department as an apostrophe defines possession. The DSD is named for the function of a sheriff per Colorado state law, not the actual sheriff as the other 62 counties of Colorado. Broomfield is another combined entity, which has the police department performing all of the sheriff functions. Denver deputy sheriff's only perform jail and court related functions, much like the San Francisco Sheriff's Department. The police are responsible for the patrol and investigative matters within the jurisdiction.

The DSD is very rich in history as the first sheriff's agency in Colorado. In 1858, James W. Denver appointed Edward Wynkoop as the first sheriff of Arapahoe County and Denver was the seat. Sheriffs and deputies of Arapahoe County were responsible for most of current day north eastern Colorado as well as the jails and courts. In 1902, the DSD assumed the current role with the chief of police also acting as the sheriff of Denver per the city charter. Hamilton Armstrong was the C&C of Denver's first sheriff. The sheriff agency was divided into the courts and the jails. Until the late 1950s, Denver Police operated the City Jail. The undersheriff was in charge of the courts while a warden was responsible for the jail. In 1904, the position of sheriff became elected and Sheriff Nisbet was elected by the citizens. Later in 1911, citizens approved the appointment of a sheriff and Chief Armstrong was again appointed to the office of sheriff. Daniel Sullivan was appointed after Armstrong and in 1913, a commission type government was established and Nisbet was appointed as commissioner of safety/ex officio sheriff. The commission style of government lasted until 1916 when the office of manager of safety & excise/ex officio sheriff was created. Dewey C. Bailey was Denver's first manager of safety. Denver's manager of safety is one of the strongest peace officer positions in Colorado. Managers are not typically peace officers, however most have been lawyers. Denver's first African American manager was Elvin Caldwell, Hispanic, Manual Martinez and the only female, Elizabeth McCann.

The new (2010) Van Cise-Simonet Detention Facility is the prisoner intake center for the City and County of Denver. Prisoners are processed into the system, booked, finger printed, and temporarily housed until such a time that they are able to make bond, or have been given an advisement by the court. The Van Cise-Simonet Detention Center was named after Philip Van Cise who served as Denver District Attorney from 1921-1925. Louis John Simonet was the Director of Corrections and Undersheriff for eighteen years. The facility is known as DDC or Downtown Detention Center.