05/14/2026
Sedgwick County,
Recently the Julesburg advocate (JA) posted a story of Tuesdays BOCC in which I discussed some brief information about possible contracts with the Town of Julesburg. I greatly appreciate the JA covering this, but there is a great deal of context missing.
Currently, I have three certified peace officers. Myself, my Undersheriff, and one Deputy. The Undersheriff and Deputy are paid for a 40 hour work week. They are on-call for the remaining hours of their work week. This amount of manpower simply does not allow for a fully manned 24 hour operation. I am doing my best to make this coverage better.
By State statute municipalities are required to provide law enforcement services either through their own Police Department or through an adequate contract with the Sheriff’s Office. Throughout Colorado you can see this proper function of Municipal Government. Phillips County to the south and Logan County to the west are examples of this l, with each of their municipalities having their own independent police departments.
The dynamics of Julesburg particularly, citizens want 24 hour law enforcement to include a rapid response. This expectation is not realistic and their frustrations and complaints are directed towards me and my staff, without Julesburg bearing any responsibility. To be clear, Julesburg is responsible for services within their town.
Additionally, I receive feedback from the citizens outside of Julesburg, expressing frustration that they only see us in Julesburg.
My goal is to have Julesburg help me increase my patrol coverage, focusing on greater patrol coverage, as I’m sure we can all desire. Either by having an overtime budget of extra shifts, or by hiring an additional patrol deputy.
Since Julesburg dissolved its Police Department there has typically always been a contract with Julesburg. That contract expired a while ago, due to critical manning.
Discussions began a few months back with the Town Manager and a date was set for May 8th to go over several contract options l, with the Town Board. Several days prior to that meeting, the Town Board brought their Attorney into the equation, with requests that were simply taking this discussion into the wrong direction. At this point, Undersheriff Brettell provided them with the simplest contract option. Since they brought their Attorney into this matter we could no longer meet with them on May 8th, placing the matter between the County Attorney and Town Attorney.
It would have been my desire that the we had these initial discussions without attorneys, but the Town of Julesburg took a different path and now the discussion has become stagnant.
My direction to my staff is to patrol the County equally to all citizens. If you notice a reduction of presence in certain areas, I ask for your understanding of being fair to all my constituents, which could result in lesser visibility within areas in order to make equal presence county wide.
I leave this matter in the hands of Julesburg to do what is best for their citizens, knowing that I am willing to work with them in any way possible. As a resident of Julesburg myself, I hope they understand the necessity of what needs to happen.
TO BE CLEAR We care deeply for each and every member of this community and we will never abandon our oath to protect and serve each and every one of you. We are not now, or in the future, revoking services within the town of Julesburg, Ovid, or Sedgwick. We understand the ever continuing desire for more effective and proficient law enforcement services, as we desire exactly the same. In order to facilitate this demand to meet expectations we need partnerships and financial investment from our towns, specifically the town of Julesburg, due to the vast Majority of calls for service being from within its town limits.
I would ask everyone to reach out to the town of Julesburg and encourage them with your sentiments.
Thank you for your trust and the time you took, reading this post.
Your Sheriff,
Koby Quayle
Julesburg Advocate Town of Julesburg
