History of the County
Arapahoe County is the oldest county in Colorado and actually pre-dates the formation of Colorado Territory. As such, the Sheriff’s Department could be considered the oldest Sheriff Department, rather than Denver. In 1855, Governor Woodson of Kansas Territory signed a proclamation creating Arapahoe County in what was then Kansas Territory. The original Arapahoe County covered roughly the entirety of present day Northeastern Colorado. In 1858 E.W. Wink arrived and was appointed Sheriff of Arapahoe County by the Governor Denver of Kansas Territory. The county seat at the time was located in Denver and that is how two Sheriff’s Departments claim to be the oldest in Colorado.
Responsibilities of the Jail
As with most Sheriff Departments, the Arapahoe County Sheriff is responsible for housing inmates, transporting prisoners, executing writs, court security, fugitive apprehension, and county patrols. Arapahoe County is the third most populous county in Colorado and encompasses a portion of the Denver Metropolitan area in addition to more rural areas. This department has been at the forefront of a number of nationally prominent incidents in the last decades; most notably the Columbine School shooting, the Aurora Theater shooting, and most recently the Arapahoe High School shooting. The media attention surrounding these high-profile incidents presents a challenging environment for the Sheriff’s Department.
The Detention and Administration Bureau within the Sheriff Department, and its 401 sworn and civilian staff members are responsible for the jail facility and its inmates. The Detention Facility is accredited by the American Correctional Association (ACA) since 1991 and the medical unit is accredited through the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC) since 1989.