The Board of County Commissioners and Montezuma County Sheriff Steve Nowlin will address the Montezuma-Cortez Narcotics Investigation Team’s disbanding at a BOCC meeting on Tuesday, July 14, with both entities having differing views on the Sheriff’s Office’s budget. The meeting will be held at 9 a.m. at 109 W. Main Street, Room 250.
Nowlin and Detective Sgt. Victor Galarza informed The Journal of the Narcotics Investigation Team’s disbanding, attributing the program’s end to budget cuts.
“We’re not going to be able to do the large importation cases that he (Galarza) and the Cortez PD detective have done over the years,” Nowlin said. “My resources have been cut by the commissioners, and it’s just the way that it is. I can’t provide the public safety that we once did, which is really sad.”
Galarza acknowledged the disbandment.
“Due to the budget cuts ... they’ve cut the legs right out from underneath it (the narcotics team), and we could no longer afford to have the Montezuma-Cortez Narcotics Investigation Team,” Galarza said.
Montezuma County posted to Facebook, saying the notion that budget cuts led to the team’s end are not supported by financial records. They said an article in The Journal about an award Galarza received from the Drug Enforcement Agency was the first notification they received that Nowlin had ended the team.
The county’s social media post said that Nowlin has returned $4,637,197 in unspent dollars since 2015, when his tenure as sheriff started.
Galarza is the sole member of the Narcotics Investigation Team from the Sheriff’s Office. He said he will be leaving Cortez and seeking employment elsewhere due to the disbandment. Montezuma County’s post noted that Galarza’s position is funded as a full-time employee position in the 2026 budget.
Nowlin was invited to both the Monday and Tuesday BOCC meetings, but will only attend Tuesday due to scheduling conflicts.
The topic, however, is included in the agenda items for both days and will be discussed at the Monday meeting as well, according to BOCC Chairman Jim Candelaria.
“The way they have spun this is not accurate at all, but I will address this on Tuesday in public, not social media,” Nowlin told The Journal on Friday. “What I told you about no funding is true, and I can show everyone the requests made during the budget meetings last year and what was given in the budget for this year.”
Candelaria said the allegation of funding issues was untrue.
“When they (Nowlin and Galarza) both made the same accusation and statement that it was being disbanded due to budget cuts … it’s totally inaccurate information, and they continue to tell that to the public,” Candelaria told The Journal. “From where I sit, it’s to make the board look bad. But in actuality, it’s not true, and we showed that money is given back every year in its budget. So, the truth has to come out. These lies have to stop, and it’s that simple.”
Candelaria said the sheriff can end programs when he sees fit, but that it is funded.
“For them to say that the position is not funded creates a lot of frustration on our side,” he said.
According to Montezuma County’s audited financials, the Sheriff’s Office’s budget, including jail operations, is $7,341,485 for 2026, up from $6,990,875 in 2025 (unaudited) and $6,232,806 in 2024. In 2025, the reported unspent funds amount to $509,507.
The Sheriff’s Office’s budget can be found online at bit.ly/MCSObudget.
bduran@the-journal.com
