To my community:

There have been a number of Facebook posts that have brought questions into the integrity of your Sheriff’s Office. I take these issues seriously and I am very concerned and disappointed in the misinformation being spread. It has been an honor to represent Gilpin County as the Sheriff, and work alongside the dedicated men and women who provide exceptional service to our community. I will not allow any election/political drama smear to bring discredit to the great work these men and women do for your community.

Hiring:

The hiring of the Administrative Manager/PIO and its process was conducted solely by me, the Sheriff. We received over 20 applications with various degrees of qualifications/experience. I noticed an application from Ms. Demo. I consulted with the HR director and was advised that state and federal law relative to personal relationship in testing/hiring cannot be used as a deciding factor. I took on the responsibility for the evaluation of each applicant and the testing to preserve the integrity in the process. I selected the five best qualified applicants to move forward to the oral board. I developed the questions for this phase of the process.

At no time was any of this information shared with anyone in the Sheriff’s Office. To maintain the integrity of the process I took all documents home with me, not leaving them available on my desk. I compiled a four-member oral board panel from three outside agencies (Boulder, Black Hawk, and Wheat Ridge) to provide the best possible unbiased assessment of the applicants. At the conclusion of the oral boards, there was a unanimous and clear applicant who stood well above the others. Ms. Demo was selected for the position and hired in November of 2025.

All hiring/promotions follow a competitive process to pick the most qualified individual to represent the Sheriff’s Office and our community. The hiring of the Emergency Manager again went through a similar competitive process. As with all positions within the Sheriff’s Office, a thorough background check was conducted on Mr. Mingura.

The background showed he had exemplary employment as an Emergency Manager. In a prior law enforcement position, he was indited in Arizona for his conduct, however, all charges were later dismissed. He has NO criminal history. I hired him as an Emergency Manager.

Employee discipline:

The Sheriff’s Office has Core Values, a Mission Statement and a Value Statement that every team member receives upon hiring. These can be found on the Gilpin County Sheriff’s Office website. Every team member is held accountable to these values.

There is a policy in how complaints are handled. It has been my philosophy to correct misconduct/behavior at the lowest possible level beginning with Sergeants, Division Chiefs, and then the Undersheriff. All team members have the ability to appeal any discipline that results in suspension (with or without pay), demotion or termination to the Sheriff.

If there is an appeal, I would review all completed, factual reports/investigation and the team member’s statement requesting the appeal. Colorado Revised Statutes (Title 30) outlines the duties and responsibilities of the Sheriff. This includes hiring and terminating personnel.

All the internal investigation result in some type of documentation for corrective action, if applicable.  In any internal investigation in which some sort of discipline is administered to correct behavior, the team member can develop any narrative that they choose. This includes taking personal responsibility and accountability for their actions or not and place blame where it is not warranted.

The supervisory or command staff cannot share any portion of the investigation or discipline with others. However, we can confirm or deny narratives. There are always two sides to every story. I have reviewed the majority of the internal investigations to make sure there is fairness and consistency in the process. I have found no issues with the process or their outcomes.

The question has come up about the consistency in the process and the administering of corrective action. Understand two team members can receive different corrective measure based on their own history of previous documented behavior. An example: If two team members have similar behavior that needs correction; one of them, this is their first policy violation and the second has three, the corrective action will be different and possibly at a different level than team member one.

Team members leaving and Dispatch:

We all know each team member makes the decision to leave a personal one. Exit interviews are conducted and reviewed. Almost every exit interview describes how pay was a motivating factor. The Sheriff’s Office is 30 miles from the metro area, and it is a fact most of the law enforcement agencies in the metro area have higher salaries. We lost four deputies to RTD for much higher pay. Another left to take an almost $30,000 dollar pay increase to a neighboring agency. A dispatcher who was close to finishing their training, left because they could not meet their living expenses with the low pay.

Myself and Command Staff have worked tirelessly to get the pay for all positions in the Sheriff’s Office competitive. Separate from pay, one individual who took a nonlaw enforcement position stated they were tired of the job and the trauma they had experienced during their career. The sheriff’s office lost five deputies after State Legislatures passed some laws that effected their ability to perform their job.

Dispatch has always been short-staffed throughout my time with the Sheriff’s Office. This is a very difficult and demanding position in the Sheriff’s Office. The team member must be able to multitask at an astonishing level. It takes a very special individual to meet these demands.

Leadership:

When I took office as Sheriff, I immediately began the process of succession planning for the next Sheriff. Tonia Kapke was my Undersheriff when I was elected and the succession process began.  Sadly, Tonia passed away in August of 2024. I then appointed Greg Demo as Undersheriff to fill this critical role. The succession planning began with Undersheriff Demo at that time. Undersheriff Demo has stepped up to take on this responsibility, performing at an exceptional level.

One of the many character traits I look for in a leader, is their ability to gain all the facts of any situation before making a decision, a comment or taking a position. This leader does not take one side of an issue, but educates themselves on the information/topic by reaching out to all who can provide factual clarification.

I have an open-door policy to anyone who may have an issue or concern about anything occurring in the Sheriff’s Office. Some have taken advantage of this to get factual information and not just taking the word of one individual or group who have developed their own narrative, but go to the source who can provide truthful information. Others have not, which is troubling and leading to misinformation.

In the Mountain Ear newspaper (October 1 and 8, 2026) are the responses to specific questions from each candidate. I found only one to have a clear understanding of the operation of the Sheriff’s Office with the responses including detailed factual information.

These are a few reasons I am endorsing Undersheriff Greg Demo for the next Sheriff for Gilpin County.

If anyone in our community would like to meet with me personally, I would welcome the opportunity.

Thank you,

Sheriff Kevin Armstrong

Gilpin County