By Steve Caulk and Charley Able
Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writers

The cost of the tragedy at Columbine High School and its aftermath to Jefferson County is already more than $1 million and expected to go higher.

"It's going to easily be a million, easily" said Commissioner Pat Holloway, who chairs the county Board of Commissioners. "And we haven't even seen the sheriff's overtime."

The killings at the high school required the equivalent of a full week's work for 77 extra people at the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department, said Capt. Gary Grainger, who is in charge of support services.

Through Wednesday, the sheriff's department had logged 3,072 overtime hours by its staff of 540 people, costing the agency $104,460 and putting it on pace to go well over budget for the year, Grainger said.

At least a dozen agencies responded to the tragedy April 20. The Colorado State Patrol, for instance, contributed 2,832 overtime hours costing $99,120. All the agencies could be eligible for some federal relief.

The U.S. Justice Department manages an emergency fund designated for "unanticipated major expenses related to law enforcement activity," said Dick Weatherbee, a spokesman for the department.

"It's a small fund, about $2 million for the whole country, and it's largely depleted," Weatherbee said. "But they'll find a way to pay it."

President Clinton announced last week that Colorado would receive $1.5 million in aid, but that is earmarked for victims' compensation. Agencies such as the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department will have to cover any expenses not eligible for the Justice Department's emergency fund.

The county projects it already has spent more than $420,000 for supplies and equipment involved in setting up a multi-agency administrative crime lab at the county's Administration and Courts Building in Golden and a command and media center at Columbine Library.