By Lisa Cyriacks
A federal jury in a Colorado District civil court case awarded $4 million to the mother of a man who died in 2019 in the Saguache County jail. In opening arguments, the plaintiff’s attorney argued Jackson Maes died by suicide after jail personnel deprived him of his federal constitutional rights under the 14th amendment – primarily the right to adequate medical care, including both physical and mental health.
Payment of the judgment will be covered by the county’s insurance. The plaintiff’s attorney, Sean Dormer, made a statement to the Denver Post that with the addition of attorney’s fees and costs the final payment will be close to $7 million.
During the trial, jurors reviewed video footage that established the timeline of events on Nov. 19, 2019.
Deputy Elke Wells responded to a call for a welfare check that resulted in Wells arresting Maes on an outstanding warrant for failure to appear on a traffic ticket. The Saguache County Sheriff’s office incident report filed by Wells asserts that Maes was intoxicated, and once in his cell, called out for someone and slammed his head on a metal divider multiple times, telling officers “I’m trying to kill myself.” Less than two hours later, Maes committed suicide in his cell.
The plaintiff’s attorney argued that “none of the officers present that evening connected him to mental health care, put him on suicide watch, and none of them checked on him the rest of the night. An officer found Jackson’s body around 7 a.m. MST the next morning.”
The jury returned the verdict that Kenneth Wilson, the jail supervisor, was found liable for deliberate indifference to Maes’s expressed medical needs. Wilson witnessed Maes banging his head and heard him explain that he was trying to kill himself. He knew that Jackson was at risk of suicide and even told other officers that something more had to be done. Yet he did nothing, failing to take “reasonable steps to protect a pretrial detainee or an inmate from suicide.”
The jury also found “by a preponderance of the evidence” that the need for more training or different training was so obvious and the inadequacy so likely to result in the violation of constitutional rights [of the inmate], that the jury returned the verdict: “defendant Warwick was found to be deliberately indifferent of the need for such training.”
Saguache County has been plagued by chronic understaffing and inadequate training for years.
This was not the first instance of suicide in the jail. In 2008, Felix Granados died by suicide in the same jail and, like Maes, used the privacy curtain to do so. In 2013, William Starkey committed suicide using his clothing to hang himself.
Saguache County jail is the second oldest jail in the state. Built in 1957, with a new wing added in 1996-97, it is plagued with various structural issues, from outdated wiring, to recurring mold in the shower area, malfunctioning heating units and air circulation issues.
Originally constructed as a residence — prisoners scattered along three different wings, making it difficult for jailers to address problems if something is happening in more than one wing at a time. A new camera system was installed following a riot and fire, in 2016, but it still was hard to monitor multiple incidents, jail staff noted in 2016. (From a July 2022 Crestone Eagle article “Inmates no longer housed at Saguache County Jail”.)
In 2018, voters in the county approved a 1.5% sales tax for a Public Safety Fund “for the limited purpose of directly funding urgent public safety needs regarding law enforcement operations and meeting statutory obligations of Saguache County to provide adequate [jail] facilities.” According to the language in the ballot question:
“All revenues generated from the tax…..are restricted to use for the following purposes — law enforcement operations including, but not limited to, hiring, employing, training and equipping deputies, investigators and civilian support staff; conducting investigations, replacing obsolete and failing equipment necessary to law enforcement purposes and providing for general operating expenses of law enforcement operations; and any funds generated by this tax would be in addition to funds budgeted by the county for operation of the Sheriff’s office/Detention Center….”
The ballot measure in 2018 passed – 53% voting for and 47% voting against.
In the summer of 2022, Sheriff Warwick informed county commissioners he did not have enough staff and that staffing shortages were compelling him to house inmates at other locations. His escalating concerns led him to explore a long-term agreement with neighboring counties. Staffing shortages were the primary reason for Warwick’s decision.
“A single person doing dispatch and jailing. It Is not safe,” stated Warwick. “Without more staff, this is the only way to do this – there is not enough staff.”
Monies in the Public Safety Fund established in 2018 were discussed at the June 7, 2022 commissioners’ meeting. While monies had been spent on repairs, communications, software and equipment, at that time none had been approved by the commissioners for personnel, employment costs, or training.
As of Dec. 31, 2024 the Saguache County Treasurer’s Semi-Annual Report to the Board of County Commissioners shows the fund balance for the Public Safety Fund was $3,184,397.
Three years after the June, 2022 meeting, in 2025 the jail remains open and operational solely to facilitate booking procedures and holding people temporarily until they can be transported to other facilities. The cell used for this purpose is the one that housed Jackson Maes.