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Douglas County Sheriff hopes to re-allocate tax money to make schools safer

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PARKER, Colo. -- Douglas County's justice center tax, which makes up .13 of a cent, is scheduled to sunset in 2020.

Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock plans to ask county commissioners to put something on the November ballot that would re-allocate the money to support school safety in Douglas County Schools in the future.

"The money would go toward school resource officers, school marshal programs, communication programs within the school and education programs," said Sheriff Spurlock. "I think public safety in our schools is paramount. They are one-third of our population in Douglas County and they're away from their homes one-third of the time in schools."

Spurlock and other area leaders educated parents and teachers on how the tax would work during a school safety forum at Legend High School in Parker on Saturday.

District Attorney George Brauchler also took questions. He was grilled on efforts to combat mental illness.

"It can't just be law enforcement to the exclusion of mental health and it certainly can't just be mental health to the exclusion of the law enforcement," Brauchler told Denver7.

If county commissioners agree to putting the tax on the November ballot, it will be up to voters to decide if they want to pay for it.