ALAMOSA — Alamosa County Sheriff, Robert Jackson gave his first official update to the Alamosa Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday following his swearing in ceremony.

Jackson began by noting that the department has met some “huge challenges,” in the past four years. He observed that during that time a new courthouse and jail addition have been built, new uniforms and weapons have been issued to officers and the vehicle fleet has been updated. There have also been six additional officers added to the department. The department has also been successful in outfitting each officer with new, state-of the-art body cameras.

Currently, there are 95 inmates being housed in the Alamosa County Jail. This is a cost of $1,035 per day for the department. Phase 2 of the jail renovation process is expected to be complete by March. When all is complete, there will be a total of 170 beds in the facility.

The new kitchen in the jail has also proven to be a huge asset for the department. Costs for food have been reduced while maintaining nutritional quality, according to Jackson.

The effect of the pre-trial release system remains to be seen. Jackson is also working to get adequate staffing for courthouse security.

While there are still some unknowns, the Alamosa County Sheriff’s Office has seen some recent success. Jackson said he is appreciative of the professional working relationship that he has with the commissioners. He looks forward to continuing the relationship to further benefit Alamosa County.