A county jail can appear to be functioning adequately until one pressure point begins affecting the entire justice system. Staffing shortages, increasing behavioral health needs, overcrowding or aging infrastructure often emerge gradually, but their impacts can quickly become difficult to manage. Colorado's new Jail Standards, which took effect July 1, 2026, provide an opportunity for counties to step back and evaluate whether their facilities are prepared not only to meet today's requirements, but tomorrow's demands as well.
For Wold, gaining that understanding means bringing the right expertise to the table. We seek out trusted experts, like Justice Planners, who can provide key perspectives that inform our recommendations. By pairing their knowledge of correctional operations and population analysis with our experience in facility planning and design, we help counties look beyond the building to identify emerging challenges and solutions that will best serve both their communities and individuals in detention.
Many jail planning efforts begin as a reaction to an operational challenge. A county may have more people in custody than available beds. Staffing challenges may make operational logistics between courts and the jail unsustainable. The jail population may require specialized behavioral health or medical resources the facility was never designed to provide. These challenges may seem separate, but they are often interconnected. A jail is one component of a larger local justice system encompassing law enforcement, courts, corrections and other community resources. Decisions within one area can have consequences throughout the system.
For example, a county facing jail may consider reducing the number of positions assigned to the jail so more officers can be placed on patrol. But increased enforcement activity can may lead to additional bookings, creating greater demand on the jail whose staffing was just reduced. Court policies and practices can similarly affect how long people remain in custody and, ultimately, how much capacity the county requires. Understanding those connections is critical. Rather than asking only whether a jail needs more beds or a larger building, counties should first ask what is driving the pressure they are experiencing.
Most jails already possess much of the information needed to inform planning decisions. The challenge is turning this data into actionable insight. Bookings and releases, average length of stay and demographic information about the population can help counties understand both current operations and long-term requirements. At its simplest, two factors have an outsized influence on bed space: how many people are coming into the jail and how long they stay. Capacity itself can also be more complicated than the number of beds available. Operationally, a jail may effectively be full at around 80% occupancy because people must be separated based on security classifications and other operational demands.
For example, a facility with 100 beds does not necessarily have capacity for 100 people. Individuals must be separated according to classification, gender, medical status and other requirements, making operational capacity significantly lower. In practice, a jail can experience crowding pressures well before every bed is occupied.
Looking at several years of historical data can also reveal characteristics of the population that may not be apparent from day-to-day operations. A changing age profile, for example, may increase treatment demands for medical needs and influence everything from housing configurations to appropriate staffing and the size and location of clinical space. A significant population with behavioral health priorities may require specialized housing and treatment environments. Charge types, lengths of stay and other trends can similarly inform how spaces should function. These factors can all influence space requirements, staffing requirements and budgets.
The value comes from interpreting the data. “Jail staff are experts in operating their facilities, but they are not necessarily trained to analyze years of booking and population data,” says Alan Richardson, Justice Planners. “An objective needs assessment can translate that information into a clearer picture of what the county needs today and what it may need in the future.”
Jail planning is a public decision-making process involving stakeholders with different responsibilities, priorities and perspectives. It is not uncommon for stakeholders to agree that a challenge exists while disagreeing entirely on its cause. Sheriffs may view the issue through an operational lens, commissioners through a fiscal lens and courts through a case-processing lens. A shared understanding of the data helps shift discussions from competing assumptions to informed decision-making.
Data creates a common foundation for those conversations. A needs assessment grounded in historical information can help distinguish demonstrated challenges from assumptions and provide decision-makers with an objective basis for evaluating options. It can also help counties move toward proactive planning. Rather than waiting until overcrowding, staffing shortages or other pressures become critical, regularly understanding and interpreting operational data can reveal trends early enough for leaders to evaluate their choices thoughtfully.
Depending on the community, potential solutions could include maintaining and repairing an existing facility, renovating or expanding it, constructing a replacement, developing a regional facility, transitioning to a short-term holding model or contracting with another jurisdiction. The right answer depends on the county’s population, operations, geography, resources and priorities.
However, the solution that best addresses every identified need may not be feasible within the funding available. In those cases, planning becomes an exercise in understanding trade-offs: What goals are most important? What risks is the county willing to accept? Which investments will have the greatest impact? Providing multiple options, complete with the operational implications, costs and risks associated with each as informed by a comprehensive needs assessment, allows county leaders to make those decisions with a clearer understanding of what they are gaining and what they may be giving up.
Facility planning is most effective when operational analysis and design expertise inform one another from the beginning. Through their work together, Wold and Justice Planners approach jail planning by first understanding the people, policies and operations that shape a county’s needs, then translating those findings into facility strategies.
Operational analysis can identify population trends, staffing considerations and service needs, while architectural planning turns those insights into spaces and systems that support the way a facility needs to function. This approach helps counties make informed capital decisions that address current challenges while creating facilities that can adapt as needs evolve. By understanding operational realities before making capital decisions, counties can invest with greater confidence and create facilities that remain effective as needs evolve.
Interested in how a needs assessment could inform the next chapter for your county’s jail facility? Connect with Wold to start the conversation.
To learn more about our experience creating justice facilities that strengthen counties’ ability to serve their communities, contact Roger Schroepfer at rschroepfer@woldae.com or Alan Richardson at arichardson@justiceplanners.com.
