May 29, 2025 — The Pueblo County Board of County Commissioners voted to approve Amendment 7 to the grant contract with the Colorado Department of Human Services Behavioral Health Administration and the county’s 2025-26 budget for the jail-based behavioral health services (JBBS) program.

The vote, taken during the board’s May 29 meeting, was unanimous. The amendment adjusts line items in the JBBS budget but, according to the sheriff’s office presenter, will not reduce services offered to inmates transitioning out of the jail.

Captain Bacher of the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office told commissioners that the state removed the program’s competency line item but allowed the county to roll over unspent funds from the current budget cycle into next year to offset the change. “We are not planning on losing any services,” Captain Bacher said. He also told the board that, as of the most recent Monday, 325 inmates were enrolled in the JBBS program and remain engaged in classes and reentry supports after release.

Bacher said the state is moving from an amendment-based approval process to a general accounting encumbrance cycle for these funds; county staff and the county attorney’s office will coordinate to relay details to the commissioners if the change affects future budgeting or reporting.

A commissioner who participates on the Southeast Colorado Opioid Abatement Council said there is a separate regional pool of criminal-justice–eligible abatement funds and that he is pressing for a larger share to be allocated to Pueblo County. He said he anticipates at least $50,000 in abatement funding to be allocated to Pueblo County by the end of the year, though the final distribution will depend on the regional council’s decisions.

The board took formal action to approve the amendment and budget for the JBBS program; the motion carried with the commissioners voting in favor.