County Commissioners award CARES money to Sheriff’s Office

Votes to repair jail elevator damage, approves SHINE program move

,.

OKLAHOMA CITY (Free Press) — The Oklahoma County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) approved a slate of contract renewals from across county departments Monday, and voted to approve the awarding of over $3 million in CARES Act funds to the Sheriff’s Office. 

The group also allocated money for elevator repairs and approved a new lease for the SHINE program.

District 3 Chief Deputy Myhles Davidson sat in for Commissioner Kevin Calvey who was absent.

Marty Peercy reports Local government

Sheriff money

The Budget Evaluation Team on Monday brought a recommendation to approve requests for relief expenses for the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office. The BoCC approved the request for $3,407,165.23 to come from the CARES Act Special Projects Fund.

Included in the expenses is $2,769,103.23 for the purchase of 47 “specially outfitted” Chevrolet Tahoes. The line item description for the purchase explains that the purpose is to “limit exposure between Oklahoma County Sheriff employees and arrestees or other persons being transported to and from various facilities.”

The remainder of the appropriation will be used to replace Mobile Data Computers and purchase air filtration masks.

CARES Act funds are required to be used for purposes that mitigate the spread of deadly viruses.

Elevator repairs

The Board also voted to approve a contract in the amount of $238,257 with Kone for elevator repairs.

In June, Free Press reported that the BoCC approved an expensive overhaul of the entire elevator system in the aging courthouse. That work will improve the reliability of the four main public elevators. Monday’s vote was for repairs to the private elevator from the jail facility in the courthouse.

To learn more: Okla County Commissioners approve millions in new fiscal year spending

The “jail elevator” ferries detainees from the holding facility to the floor of their respective court hearings. The elevator is the only one in the courthouse that requires a person to manually operate it. According to Facilities Director Keith Monroe, it’s the elevator that has the fewest mechanical problems.

In February, when central Oklahoma experienced a record-setting winter storm, pipes in the courthouse burst, flooding the elevator shaft for the jail elevator. The money approved by the BoCC on Monday is for repairing the damage done by that flood.

SHINE move

District 2 Commissioner Brian Maughan has been working to move the SHINE program out from under his District supervision and into its own separate and self-contained county program. 

With that move and a broadening of the scope of work done by the program, it was time to find a new physical home for the van and other equipment.

Heretofore, SHINE has called the District 2 work barn home. The owner of a garage at 900 ½ SW 2nd offered up his space at a bargain rate. Now SHINE is moving into that two-bay garage space at a rate of $100 a month.

The Board of County Commissioners will meet again on Monday, August 16, at 9:00 a.m.

Author Profile

Columnist covering local government in Oklahoma City and Oklahoma County from May 2019 through June 2023.