‘We have vacancy’: Sheriff posts clear warning to wannabe crooks

A sheriff in Wyoming has posted a warning sign to wannabe criminals: A red, blinking “vacancy” sign over the door to the county jail.

“We put (the sign) up to make sure everyone knows we’re open for business. We take people to the jail that need to be arrested,” Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozal told the Cowboy State Daily.

He explained the red neon, all-caps sign is “meant to let people know the jail has room, and that deputies are willing to book suspected criminals charged with crimes into the jail,” the report said.

One of the issues is that for more than two years during COVID-19 and after, a prior administration suspended many of its booking protocols and allowed many defendants suspected of nonviolent crimes to remain free.

“We’re making it clear we have vacancy, so criminals are welcome in our jail” Kozak confirmed to the publication.

The sign is at a busy intersection of Pioneer Ave. and 20th Street in downtown Cheyenne.

Kozak is not new to unusual ploys. Last year he used part of his advertising budget to advertise in downtown Denver, 100 miles away, that he had open deputy positions for officders “dissatisfied with some of Colorado’s laws that are less friendly to law enforcement than Wyoming’s,” the report said.

The county jail has some 170 inmates now, in a facility with a capacity of about 450.