Sheriff
John Cooke
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Office of the
Sheriff
The Weld Sheriffs duties are established by Colorado Statutes and the Weld
County Home Rule Charter and include, but are not limited to, maintenance of a
county jail, service and execution of all processes, writs, precepts, and orders
of the County and District Courts or presented for service by citizens pursuant
to civil procedure, transportation of prisoners, security of the courthouse,
search and rescue, control of grassland fires, and the investigation of crimes
or breech of the peace. Some of these duties are confined to areas outside
incorporated fire districts while other duties include the entire county and its
citizens without regard to political subdivision boundaries.
A candidate for sheriff must be a graduate of a certified law enforcement
academy, or, graduate of an institution requiring a minimum of 90 quarter or 60
semester credit hours for graduation, or, have a minimum of five years
experience as an administrator in law enforcement, and be a qualified elector of
the state residing in the county one year prior to election. The sheriff serves
a four year term. The sheriff s office is located in Greeley, the county seat,
with substations in Fort Lupton and Del Camino.
All personnel, except the undersheriff, are administered in accordance with the
personnel procedures adopted by the Board of County Commissioners pursuant to
Home Rule Charter requirements for a county personnel system, A G.E.D.
equivalent to masters degree are the minimum educational standards required
depending upon the position job description within the organization. The jail
department has the largest concentration of both human and fiscal resources
within the sheriffs office. Besides traditional careers in law enforcement, the
sheriffs office also has office technicians, counselors, juvenile and adult
security staff, and many other personnel assignments that offer a unique range
of specialization and training opportunities.
The sheriffs office law enforcement mission is to investigate and prevent
criminal activity, restore stolen property to the owner, apprehend offenders,
and present criminal cases for prosecution by the Weld District Attorney from
unincorporated areas of Weld County. Municipal police and town marshals provide
law and traffic enforcement within cities and incorporated towns while the
Colorado State Patrol generally provides traffic enforcement on state highways
and Weld County roads. Traffic enforcement is provided by the sheriff pursuant
to contract within municipalities or on a limited basis in unincorporated areas
because of restricted resources.
The County Jail opened in 1978 and was immediately overcrowded, requiring
double bunking of cells and a 1985 renovation to increase its capacity to 184.
In 1987, planning began for another jail facility to be built in the 1990's to
deal with continued inmate overcrowding. Additional space was added to the Jail
in 1988 that will provide for outdoor exercise and additional required inmate
programs. The jail provides counseling programs, visitation, medical and dental
care, religious and educational programs to nearly 200 inmates daily.
Psychiatric cases are sent to a designated area at North Colorado Medical Center
and chemical intoxication cases to Island Grove Regional Treatment Center for
care rather than routine detention at the Jail.
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