Since June 2019, the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center has reported four suicides, a sharp increase since the last previously reported suicide in 2009. According to recent reporting by Reuters, which filed more than 1,500 public records requests to compile data on inmate populations, health care and deaths from 500 jails across the nation, suicide is the second leading cause of death in Colorado jails after illness. Between 2009 to 2019, in Colorado, 64 inmates died by suicide. Coloradoâs inmate death rate is 1.64 per 1,000 inmates, compared to the national inmate death rate of 1.46. The factors that contribute to inmate suicide are varied and complex, and the rise in suicides at the El Paso County Jail coincide with both a change in medical service providers and ongoing issues with El Paso County Sheriffâs deputies completing required inmate checks, which has also led to inmate injuries from fights going unnoticed by jail staff.