The El Paso County Sheriff's Office Detention Bureau, specifically the El Paso County Jail which operates under this bureau, and its governing policies and procedures, were recently evaluated by auditors from the American Correctional Association (ACA). The ACA is the only national accreditation agency recognized worldwide for accreditation standards in the correctional industry. Founded in 1870, the ACA is the oldest, largest, and most prestigious correctional organization in the world. The ACA is a professional organization which focuses exclusively on the field of corrections, whose activities include the administration of a nationally recognized accreditation program for all components of adult corrections. The ACA has developed national standards which address services, programs, and other operations essential to effective correctional management.

As a result of this audit, the Sheriff’s Office retained its ACA accreditation. The auditors were complimentary of our staff and noted we work well within the requirements and best practices identified by this strict accreditation process. This recognition provides formal and industry-recognized evidence of our accountability, credibility, and commitment to the citizens of El Paso County through the professional manner in which we manage the El Paso County Jail and serve our incarcerated residents therein.

The ACA accreditation is bestowed upon facilities and programs that are believed to be the “Best of the Best” in the field. Currently, the ACA, through its accreditation commission and under the scope if its standards, reviews more than 1,300 facilities across the United States and the world. These include federal, state, local, and private facilities of all types and sizes. The El Paso County Jail was first ACA accredited in 1992 and has maintained its commitment to meeting the requirements. The El Paso County Jail is the largest county jail in the State of Colorado. Below are a few significant highlights: 

PREA:
The National Standards to Prevent, Detect, and Respond to Prison Rape (based on the Prison Rape Elimination Act, PREA Standards) require all covered confinement facilities to be audited at least once during every three-year audit cycle. In April of 2020, the El Paso County Jail met all 45 requirements based on the auditor's compliance determinations.
 
ACE Accreditation:
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office (EPSO) dispatch center been re-accredited as the world's 29th Medical Accredited Center of Excellence. ACE (Accredited Center of Excellence) promotes organizational excellence in public safety communications by encouraging committed agencies to complete "20 points of Accreditation," a rigorous and measurable set of globally recognized practices. This is the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office’s 7th accreditation. Only 15 agencies in the world have been accredited 7 or more times.
 
NCCHC Accreditation:
These recognitions follow the recent National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC) accreditation of the El Paso County Jail medical section. The El Paso County Jail underwent a rigorous audit in October. An experienced physician and other experts in correctional health care surveyed the facility for compliance with standards on continuous quality improvement, safety, infection control, chronic care, personnel and training, medical and mental health care, health records, and legal issues. The El Paso County Jail was first accredited in 1989 and has maintained its commitment to meeting the requirements described in NCCHC’s standards for years.

NCCHC has surveyed and accredited jails, prisons and juvenile detention and confinement facilities for 40 years. The NCCHC standards used in accreditation are developed with input from the nation’s experts in correctional health care. Sheriff Bill Elder says, "These are huge milestones for the El Paso County Sheriff's Office. I could not be more proud of the men and women who work at our Office and the work they put forth for our community every day."

EPSO is currently preparing for CALEA (Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies) re-accreditation. The CALEA standard is a visible badge of endorsement that the public can take pride and comfort in knowing their Sheriff's Office is committed to the highest standards.