{"id":23161,"date":"2025-03-13T22:41:05","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T04:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/montezuma-county-das-office-reflects-on-its-performance-in-2024\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T22:28:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:28:17","slug":"montezuma-county-das-office-reflects-on-its-performance-in-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/montezuma-county-das-office-reflects-on-its-performance-in-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Montezuma County DA\u2019s Office reflects on its performance in 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The
The Montezuma County Board of County Commissioners has a weekly workshop meeting every Monday in their board room, Room 250, at 109 W. Main St. in Cortez. (Journal file photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

The 22nd Judicial District\u2019s performance report for 2024, presented to the Montezuma County Board of County Commissioners on Monday, attributed a significant rise in domestic violence cases to improved reporting and recognition by law enforcement officers.<\/p>\n

The district saw 239 cases in 2024, up from 197 in 2023, marking a 130% increase over the five-year average.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is just sort of how we did in 2024,\u201d said Office Manager Clarisa Osborn.<\/p>\n

Osborn noted that while the increase might not indicate more incidents, the findings underscore the district\u2019s ongoing efforts to address and manage domestic violence more effectively.<\/p>\n

The DA\u2019s Office presented a table to illustrate different crimes \u2013 everything from traffic offense cases to different classes of misdemeanors to DUIs \u2013 over a five-year window.<\/p>\n

There were a few areas where crime rose above 100% of its five-year average for the district, and the \u201cmost concerning\u201c rise was in domestic violence.<\/p>\n

\n

Crime reports in 22nd Judicial DistrictCrimes5-year average202420232022202120202019Juvenile108%828972835877Felony77%291271342441393444Traffic*83%556510579788709769Misdemeanor**112%738663635708642661DUI99%206231217241174180Domestic violence130%239197168198192167Crime against child113%623555685364Felony drug47%212143325276The 22nd Judicial District detailed crime reports over a five-year period. *Traffic cases involved Class 1 or 2 offense. **Misdemeanors included Class 1, 2, 3 or unclassified cases.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cObviously, our most concerning area is domestic violence,\u201d Osborn said. \u201cI don\u2019t know that it\u2019s necessarily happening more, but it is getting reported more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Law enforcement officers also are getting better at recognizing it, said District Attorney Jeremy Reed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s a sign that we\u2019re actually doing better with domestic violence, not that we\u2019re having more domestic violence,\u201d said Reed.<\/p>\n

The district saw the biggest drop was in felony drug charges.<\/p>\n

There were 21 of such cases in 2024, which is the exact same number they reported in 2023. That\u2019s fewer than half the 43 felony drug charges it saw in 2022.<\/p>\n

Osborn attributed the \u201chuge decrease in felony drug charges\u201d to changes in the law and state statutes, Osborn said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA tremendous number of drug felonies became misdemeanors,\u201d Reed said. \u201cThat\u2019s largely responsible for the drop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Obsorn said the district is getting \u201cclose to what we were averaging pre-COVID, our normal operations of things.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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