For years, people convicted of certain crimes and sentenced to work release — a program where people live at a halfway house but can leave to go to work — have had to wait, often months, for a spot in Boulder County’s program.
That’s still the case, even with the opening of the county-run Joe Pelle Center, which supporters hoped would eliminate the waitlist for alternative sentencing programs, which aim to keep people convicted of lower-level crimes out of the prison system.
Center leadership says the facility, which opened its doors in December, just needs more time to get a handle on the waitlist, and hopes to do so by July. But until that happens, concerns remain about community safety and whether sentences in Boulder County are being delivered as promised…