County sends sheriff's office timekeeping records to DA

Montezuma County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to send timekeeping records from the sheriff’s office to the district attorney rather than carry out the forensic audit they authorized earlier this year.

Graphic: Cortez Current. Source: Montezuma County Board of County Commissioners meeting video, September 22, 2026

The board took the vote at the end of its September 22 meeting, immediately after a closed-door session on the same subject. Resolution 8-2026, adopted earlier in the year, had called for a forensic audit of the sheriff’s office. Explaining the change, the commissioner who made the motion said the county had found “some irregularities in timekeeping,” and moved that staff instead forward the appropriate records to the district attorney’s office “and other appropriate agencies.” The motion was seconded and passed with all three commissioners voting in favor.

No findings, allegations or charges were described at the meeting beyond that statement, and commissioners named no individuals. The county attorney told the board that no decisions had been made during the executive session, which he said was attended only by the three commissioners, himself and the interim county administrator.

The closed session was called to receive legal advice on two subjects, announced in open session: Resolution 8-2026 together with a related request for records the county made several months ago, and the county’s lodging tax ballot measure.

Fire ban stays on, at least past Halloween

A possible vote to rescind the county’s fire ban was listed on the agenda and never taken. The chair pulled the item, saying the board would not take it up until after Halloween. Unincorporated Montezuma County has been under a fire ban since May 28, even though the San Juan National Forest, the BLM’s Tres Rios Field Office and others lifted their restrictions in mid-September.

The interim county administrator told commissioners he had not put the item on the agenda on his own, and that it was there at the sheriff’s request, which he said he wanted on the record because there had been confusion about it the day before.

A building split by the city limits

Commissioners approved a memorandum of understanding with the City of Cortez covering 309 N. Broadway, a property whose western third sits outside the city while the eastern two-thirds is inside it. Under the agreement the city handles permitting for the whole property.

The board also authorized the chairman to sign a letter to the city council and the property’s owners along with it. The letter, read aloud by the county attorney, calls the split “a bizarre circumstance,” asks the city and the owner to annex the western portion “within a reasonable time,” and says that if the property stays split beyond that, “the board will seek to terminate the IGA.”

Land use

Three land-use decisions passed unanimously after public hearings at which no one spoke:

• An amendment to the Freeman-Likes single lot development, adding acreage on property north of Highway 491 and west of Road 20 near Lewis.
• Two amendments to an existing exemption on Road 41.2 near Mancos, each adding about four and a half acres to a parcel from the larger property it was originally split from. County planning staff described both as the equivalent of boundary-line adjustments, with no new structures involved.

Commissioners also pressed staff on rewriting the county land use code, which the county attorney said he is working through in response to a judge’s determination. He told the board he has identified roughly 15 issues in the code and wants to narrow the scope so changes can be adopted a piece at a time, with a public hearing required for each. Separately, he said the county must write and adopt a short-term rental ordinance by the end of the year to qualify for a grant program. Commissioners asked to see something within 30 days.

Other business

• Employee handbook. Approved after being pulled from the consent agenda for a late change clarifying that the sheriff’s office is exempt from the handbook’s policies and work rules, except for the Fair Labor Standards Act, other federal and state law, and the chapters covering pay and benefits.
• Drug and alcohol testing. Policy 26-05, on pre-employment testing, passed on the consent agenda.
• Cortez raw waterline. The board approved a letter of support for the city’s Raw Waterline Program, also on consent.
• County administrator. Commissioners named a single finalist for the permanent county administrator job and authorized the chairman to work with staff on pay and benefits. The board said the candidate lives in the area and may still accept or decline.
• Sheriff’s transport vehicle. With a Chevrolet Tahoe and a Ford Expedition quoted about $15 apart on a lease through Enterprise, commissioners left the choice to the county’s fleet manager. The vehicle being replaced has more than 200,000 miles on it.
• State legislative committee. Commissioner Kent Lindsay was appointed the board’s voting designee to Colorado Counties Inc.’s legislative committee.
• Dispatch. Lindsay reported that the regional dispatch center presented a preliminary budget with costs up again, and that it is short-staffed while call volume rises.
• Colorado River. Commissioner Gerald Koppenhafer told the board that state and federal agencies are moving quickly on a program that would pay farmers and ranchers not to use water, and said he is skeptical it will help. “It doesn’t make more water,” he said, arguing the region should focus on efficiency instead.
• Blue Books. The clerk’s office told commissioners the state’s ballot information booklets had not yet arrived and it did not know when they would.

The meeting is posted in full on the county’s YouTube channel. The Board of County Commissioners meets Mondays and Tuesdays at 109 W. Main St., Cortez. Written minutes of this meeting had not been posted at the time of publication.