Two candidates, Brent Baker and Dan Loya, are running as Republicans for the Garfield County Sheriff position, to be vacated by longtime Sheriff Lou Vallario. They are the only two candidates who’ve thrown their hats in the ring, with no Democrat candidate, which reasons that whoever voters decide on in the upcoming June 30 primary […]
Garfield County Sheriff’s Office
Posted inLocal Government
Giddy up, GarCo!
Up until about 45 years ago, Garfield County relied on a Mounted Patrol Unit (MPU) for different kinds of law enforcement operations. Although it never formally disbanded, the MPU began to fade as priorities shifted. Recently, is bringing patrol by horseback back into action. In July of 2025, the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office formally announced […]
Posted inLocal Government
Voces Unidas urges attorney general to investigate Garfield County Sheriff’s Office
Over the past year, Latino advocacy organization Voces Unidas de las Montañas has recorded a slew of civil rights complaints in Garfield County. According to a recent online post published by the Voces Unidas Action Fund, over the past year people have been “disappearing” from Garfield County jail to later appear in Immigration and Customs […]
Posted inLocal Government
Law enforcers in Roaring Fork, Colorado River valleys play ‘leap frog’
One thousand seventeen dollars per month. That’s a whopping $12,204 annually. This was a starting salary offered to anyone interested in becoming a Thornton, Colorado police officer in March 1978, according to a classified advertisement printed in an old edition of the Rocky Mountain News. By December 2025 — 47 years later — starting annual […]