Last Updated on August 1, 2022, 5:24 PM | Published: August 1, 2022
OKLAHOMA CITY (Free Press) — Monday, the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority (Jail Trust) members heard from a list of concerned residents of Oklahoma County who listed deficiencies with the management and care in the jail facility.
The Trust went on to approve two resolutions asking for additional funding from the County in order to raise salaries and to make physical improvements to the facility.
They also heard the customary monthly report of Jail CEO Greg Williams.
Marty Peercy reports Local government
Public Comment
Although there had been a brief lul in loud confrontations at the Jail Trust meetings, public comment at Monday’s meeting returned to a largely adversarial tone.
Commenters focused on the managerial failings of Jail CEO Greg Williams and his team, while reserving plenty of blame for the Trust itself.
Sunday marked the death of the twelfth detainee at the Jail in 2022.
“We have normalized death as a way of doing business at the Jail,” activist Mark Faulk said to the Trustees.
Other speakers noted the failure of Jail staff to effectively provide needed medications to detainees, and the failure to allow for proper hygiene care.
Faulk said that the public was promised an oversight committee as part of the recently passed bond. Yet, Faulk said, immediately after passage, with no oversight committee even being discussed yet, a decision was made to appropriate a portion of the bond money for a new Sheriff’s Office headquarters.
In fact, provision for the Sheriff’s headquarters was in the bond vote language and was pointed out ahead of the vote by some who were against the bond.
On Monday morning, the Board of County Commissioners discussed the establishment of said oversight committee but took no action apart from voting on the size of the group after determining that seven members would be satisfactory. The members and operational structure of the committee will be sorted out over the next coming weeks.
The lack of urgency in establishing that committee is owed to the relatively long time before the building project is expected to begin in earnest.
The lack of urgency, however, leaves many already detained in the Jail hanging in a sort of liminal space where their health and safety are weighed against a constant cost/benefit analysis of repairing a facility the operator expects to close.
During Monday’s Jail Trust meeting, many speakers referenced a recent federal judge’s decision to place a dangerous jail in Hinds County, Mississippi into receivership after several deaths in the Jail. Oklahoma County residents questioned why our more dangerous Jail has not had more federal intervention.
CEO Report
As with every month, Greg Williams, CEO of the Jail Trust, came to give a report on operations at the Jail.
Monday’s report included a special guest to explain part of the month’s activities. Attorney Paula Williams, who represents the Trust in addition to the Trust’s Counselor John Michael Williams, attempted to explain last week’s visit by representatives of the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The visit was anticipated, and representatives of the DOJ were complimentary of the management of the facility, according to Williams. Williams also claimed that the DOJ recognized that expectations among staff have been raised and praised improvements to the facility. Williams claimed that the DOJ representatives recognize that the physical facility itself prevents many prescribed corrections.
During her presentation, members of the gallery shouted and disagreed with her claims, causing a disturbance. Fortunately, nobody was removed from the meeting.
The official report from the DOJ is not expected to be received for several months.
Greg Williams returned to the podium after the attorney to continue his report.
Staffing is down at the Jail, in spite of ten new hires in the last month. As of Monday, the Jail has a staff of 306. There were ten people promoted in the past month, however, which Williams said reflects an improvement in staff retention.
COVID numbers reported remain fairly low compared to the general population outside the Jail. Currently, Williams said, there are three detainees and four staff members who have tested positive.
As of Monday’s report, the population of the Detention Center was 1,622.
Williams did mention the death of a detainee this weekend, but as usual, there was no substantive discussion of Jail deaths among the Trustees in open session.
Money Resolutions
The Trust passed two resolutions to request additional funding from Oklahoma County.
The first resolution, as explained by Trust Chairman Jim Couch, would simply ask the County to give the Trust additional money to increase salaries in order to be more competitive in the hiring market. CEO Williams explained that when he started, the pay for staff was competitive with the state’s Department of Corrections, but the DOC has had a 30% increase. He said a lot of local jobs in the same sector have more competitive salary ranges now.
The Trust voted unanimously for the resolution, which stated no specific requested dollar amount. Couch said that the County was preparing to create the first budget amendment to the current budget soon, and this resolution will allow the request from the Trust to be considered in the amendment process.
The second resolution seeks American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for several facility improvements at the Jail.
The resolution passed unanimously. The projects included in the request can be seen on the final page of the resolution that can be viewed HERE.
The Jail Trust will meet again on September 6 at 1:00 p.m.
Columnist covering local government in Oklahoma City and Oklahoma County from May 2019 through June 2023.
