The Denver Sheriff Department has mistakenly released five inmates from its downtown jail so far this year, more than in any year since the facility opened in 2010, according to records obtained by The Denver Post.

All five of the inmates were eventually recaptured, but it took more than two weeks to catch one of the offenders.

The sheriff’s department has refused to release many details of the erroneous releases, saying each case remains under investigation with the department’s internal affairs bureau.

But interim Sheriff Elias Diggins said he has made changes with the department’s inmate release process to try to cut back on the instances where inmates are released from jail too early.

“We don’t want to have any erroneous releases,” Diggins said. “We want to be sure that anyone who is supposed to be in custody is in custody.”

Erroneous releases happen for a number of reasons — inmates with similar names are mixed up, deputies overlook warrants or holds from other jurisdictions, or inmates figure out a way to scheme the system.

The Denver Sheriff Department’s five erroneous releases happened between Jan. 1 and Nov. 5 at the Downtown Detention Center, according to statistics provided by the Denver Department of Public Safety. During the same period, 30,777 people were released from the city’s two jails.

In one case, an inmate was loose for 16 days before he was apprehended. Two others were captured the same day they were mistakenly released, according to information provided by the department.

At least three of the five were jailed on assault charges, according to city records. Four of the five also had outstanding warrants.

Corrections experts find it difficult to pinpoint exactly how many erroneous releases are too many. Most contend that one is too many, especially if the inmate who is mistakenly released is dangerous or commits another crime while on the loose.

Joseph Sandoval, a criminal justice professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver and a member of the executive steering committee overseeing the Denver Sheriff Department reform effort, said five out of 30,000 is not a lot in sheer numbers. But context is important.

He compared it to shooting free throws in a basketball game and having a high percentage of made shots. If a player shoots hundreds and misses only a few, it’s not a big deal.

“Unless one of those missed free throws was in a championship game and you could have won the game in regulation and instead the other team wins,” Sandoval said.

But little context is available for the sheriff’s department’s erroneous releases. The sheriff’s department did not provide The Post some basic details of this year’s mistaken releases, including the inmates’ names.

The department did say that none were suspected of committing additional crimes while they were out of custody.

Two incidents were reported in the media.

Sebastian Littlejohn, an 18-year-old with a criminal history, was mistakenly released on March 18. The release was blamed on an inaccurate court order, but few details were made available.

No public notification was made at the time because Denver police said they did not want to drive Littlejohn further underground.

And on June 30, sheriff’s deputies prematurely released Adam Satchell, who was booked on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge. Satchell was supposed to register with pre-trial services before posting bond. When authorities contacted Satchell about the error, he self-reported to pre-trial services and was released.

Martin Horn, a former New York City corrections director who is now a lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said erroneous releases plague county jail systems across the country.

“There’s going to be one or two,” he said. “Ideally, there should be none.”

A rise in the number of erroneous releases could be attributed to one or two reasons, Horn said.

“One, they are just getting sloppy and there is bad management,” he said. “Or, the nature of the criminal justice system has gotten more complex and their management system may have gotten overwhelmed.”

Diggins declined to put a reason behind the increase in Denver, saying he did not want to compromise the ongoing internal investigations.

Five erroneous releases in less than a year appears to be a poor performance when compared with peers. But the Denver Sheriff Department doesn’t have the worst record.

The Salt Lake County Jail in Utah, which is similar in size to Denver’s jails, has had seven erroneous releases this year. All were cases where clerks overlooked warrants before releasing an inmate, said Sgt. Cammie Skogg, the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman.

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, which is much larger than Denver, has reported four erroneous releases as of Nov. 12, according to its public information office.

In Arapahoe County, which has a smaller jail system, there have been zero instances of what it calls “bad releases,” said Chief Vince Line, who runs the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office’s detention and administrative services.

The Arapahoe County sheriff defines bad releases as mistakenly letting an inmate out early or releasing the wrong person, Line said.

To prevent those mistakes, the department has a system of checks and balances as an inmate’s paperwork makes its way through the system.

An inmate’s file, which includes electronic and paper copies of records as well as photographs, must be approved by a clerk, a deputy and a supervisor, Line said. All three review a checklist that includes finding out whether there are warrants or holds placed by other jurisdictions.

“We’ve got a series with three layers of checks on any release,” Line said.

As part of the changes to prevent more erroneous releases in Denver, Diggins said an inmate’s paperwork now must have three signatures before anyone is released. In the past, only two signatures were required, he said.

“We have a third set of eyes that are required to look over every single document before that person is let go,” he said.

Noelle Phillips: 303-954-1661, nphillips@denverpost.com or twitter.com/Noelle_Phillips

Erroneous releases from Denver jail

The Denver Sheriff Department has had more erroneous releases from the Downtown Detention Center in 2014 than in any year since the facility opened in 2010.

2010 — 1

2011 — 2

2012 — 4

2013 — 2