Until a new marshal is hired to fill out the current two-deputy Mancos Marshal’s force, the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office will be contracting out a deputy to provide coverage.
Mancos town board of trustees met Tuesday night to approve the contract. To be finalized, it needs a vote from the Montezuma County Commissioners.
As part of the contract, the town will pay for a Montezuma County Sheriff’s Deputy to cover shifts for up to six months, but town administrator Andrea Phillips explained that MCSO’s services may not be needed that long. Phillips is currently ramping up the marshal job description and applicant screening process, and said that the position will be advertised in coming weeks.
In terms of the screening process, Phillips said she looking to other police forces for best practices, but wants to establish a thorough pre-screening which would entail everything from fingerprints to hiring an investigator to delve into candidates’ backgrounds.
The MCSO deputy will be contracted out at a rate of $22 per hour, not to exceed 40 hours per week, but it could also be less, Phillips said.
The budgetary impact could be around $3960 per month, which will not be a hit to the general fund as the town already has funds for three officers and is planning to budget in 2016, for a fourth.
Deputy and interim town marshal Jason Spruell told trustees that he and fellow deputy Yvonne McClellan currently work 84 hours per two week period, with 84 hours on call, now that there is no third officer for shift relief.
“I’m here for the long haul, and we do what we have to do but it would be nice for a little relief,” Spruell said.
Former Mancos Marshal John Cox faces six misdemeanor charges, brought to the Montezuma County District Attorney by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. The charges stem from Cox alledgedly using department resources to conduct a personal investigation on a romantic rival; and another incident wherein Cox issued a driver a speeding ticket without using radar equipment.
In a separate case, Cox faces a DUI charge after crashing his vehicle into a guardrail on U.S. Highway 160 in La Plata County on Nov. 10. Hired in 2012 by the town as a deputy without any thorough background check conducted, Cox was also convicted of DUI in 2009 in Indiana. He was promoted to marshal in 2013.
His resignation was accepted by the Mancos Town Board of Trustees on Nov. 16.
