Dolores plans to finalize a law enforcement services contract with Montezuma County and the Sheriff’s Office for 2026 at a cost of $143,000 for one deputy instead of two.
The town currently pays $274,000 for two deputies under the 2025 agreement.
The updated contract, discussed at the town board’s Monday workshop, follows months of negotiations between town and county officials. An initial $286,000 proposal was presented, but in October, Dolores officials said they could only afford half and proposed funding one deputy.
“We sat down to do the budget with the board and said, ‘This is what we have to work with,’” Dolores Town Manager Leigh Reeves said.
“So, we would not have any leeway to do anything else. Part of it is when our taxpayers pay the county, part of that is the sheriff’s, so we have paid some of it already,” she said.
Reeves told the board the contract was rewritten so each entity is responsible for its own liability.
The contract still needs signatures from the Dolores Town Board, commissioners and sheriff. If approved at the board’s regular meeting Dec. 8, it would move to the sheriff and county commissioners for final approval.
“We’re cutting and pasting stuff as you go – this is a nice clean version,” Reeves told the board Monday, noting the sheriff’s office will likely be “good with it.”
The contract was originally scheduled for a vote earlier this month but was removed to edit liability language and remove overtime pay from the town’s responsibility.
Reeves said the overtime rate was one outstanding detail. It originally stated the town would pay the county $75 per hour for work beyond 40 hours per week.
Under the proposed contract, the sheriff would provide:
- Forty hours per week of directly committed services in Dolores.
- Investigation of traffic accidents, according to state statutes.
- A monthly written report detailing calls, patrol hours, investigations and traffic enforcement.
- Enforcement of town ordinances.
- Background checks for liquor and marijuana licenses or renewals.
- Evidence collection and storage.
- Monthly updates from the sheriff at town board meetings or when requested.
- Provide and supply all labor, supervision, supplies and equipment necessary to maintain the service.
In return, Dolores must:
- Pay the county $143,000, billed quarterly.
- Pay for any municipal-level jail bookings.
- Prosecute its own municipal cases.
- Provide office space to the Sheriff’s Office, valued at $1,000 per month.
If approved, the contract takes effect Jan. 1 and runs through the end of the year, with annual renewal possible.
Trustees expressed frustration Monday over county funding allocations.
One trustee said sheriff staffing remains thin even though the town contributes to the county’s general fund instead of paying the Sheriff’s Office directly.
“That’s the only thing that bums me out,” Trustee Linnea Peterson said. “They are woefully underfunded.”
Reeves said the town cannot resolve countywide pay or Sheriff’s Office hiring issues through contract changes.
A March 2025 organizational and budget analysis by consulting firm KRW Associates said Dolores’ long-standing law enforcement contract with the Sheriff’s Office and county collapsed in 2024. The report cited communication problems that stalled the agreement and contributed to the Sheriff’s Office budget shortfall.
The sheriff proposed a $250,000 contract, $30,000 more than the previous year, and that version was signed by the town and the sheriff.
“The sheriff indicates he worked for several months with the Dolores city manager, a town board member, the town attorney, county manager and the board of county commissioners to develop a proposed contract for $250,000 … He felt justifiable and recovered the costs to the MCSO,” the report read about the 2024 contract.
When the document reached county commissioners, they increased the amount to $375,000 to cover firearms, ammunition, body cameras, uniforms and other costs.
Dolores and the sheriff did not approve or sign that revised contract, leaving the town without an agreement in 2024. KRW recommended earlier negotiations and clear itemized cost accounting in future years.
For 2025, the amount was lowered to $274,000. That agreement itemized responsibilities, not expenses.
“In this process, it does not appear there was a clear accounting justifying the contract amount and the rationale communicated. We believe there was a clear justification for the board of county commissioners to request a specific accounting of the cost of the services being provided,” the report read.
If no contract is in place, the Sheriff’s Office still provides basic emergency dispatch services to the town.
