Justice Dept. says Denver Sheriff's Department illegally barred permanent citizens while hiring

DENVER (AP) — The Denver Sheriff’s Department will pay $10,000 and change its hiring practices after the Justice Department found it broke the law by excluding job candidates who were not U.S. citizens.

The Justice Department announced Monday it had reached a settlement with Colorado's largest sheriff department. The agency says its investigation found the department illegally required deputy sheriff applicants to be U.S. citizens and posted job ads with citizenship requirements. The practice went on from Jan. 1, 2015 to March 23.

A sheriff's spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The department's roughly 890 staff members operate the city's two jails.

The settlement requires sheriff's officials to reconsider disqualified candidates without regard to their citizenship, retrain staff and revise its policies to adhere to the Immigration and Nationality Act's anti-discrimination provision.