Last Updated on May 18, 2020, 6:34 PM | Published: May 18, 2020
The Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority, better known as the Jail Trust, met Monday afternoon in their steady push toward taking control of the Oklahoma County Jail.
Two service agreements were passed and a report on a potential budget was presented.
Trust CEO Greg Williams also gave a progress report on efforts to transition the Oklahoma County Detention Center (Jail) to the custody of the Trust.
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Contracts approved
The Trust voted on two agreements for services in the Jail. The first, for commissary services, is with Keefe Commissary Network, LLC.
The second, for meal service within the jail, is with Summit Food Service.
Commissary changes
Keefe won the contract by being able to provide wider services than are currently available at the jail. Keefe will start with “drop” services, similar to what’s available currently at the jail.
Through that service, people in the jail are able to place orders over the phone or via a checklist and the items are delivered several days later. Keefe will be able to add more frequent service in the form of a pushcart that will act as a more traditional point of sale for commissary items.
With the addition of point of sale services, persons newly booked will be able to access the commissary, whereas now they face a wait of several days at least.
During the discussion of this item, Trustee Senator Ben Brown asked for an example of pricing. He requested the estimated price for a 12 ounce can of coca-cola from the commissary.
Williams said first that the commissary will not provide aluminum cans or glass bottles. He went on to say that a 20-ounce bottle of soda will cost an estimated $1.75, or “comparable to convenience store prices,” he said.
Food Service
The agreement with Summit Food Service will guarantee three hot meals per day. The meals will cost approximately 9¢ more per meal than the current provider.
In order to offset that extra money, Summit will provide upgrades for the kitchen equipment currently in place in the jail kitchen.
The Trust will see a savings in personnel costs for kitchen operations as Summit will provide their own staff.
Brown asked if any money from Summit might be used to repair the floor and drainage issues in the kitchen area. Williams explained that that money for repairs would necessarily come from the County.
Budget Report
A budget for FY 20-21 was prepared by the Sheriff’s Office in cooperation with Williams and his staff and was presented to the Trust.
The budget was not discussed at length except to point out that it was in line with the recent financial report on Jail Budgets prepared by a third party.
Progress
Williams gave a brief report on the progress of the jail’s transition to the Trust’s custody.
As of Friday, Trust staff have met with nearly 400 jail employees and completed employment paperwork with those staff members. Williams referred to that number as “fluid.”
Williams said that he has made an offer for a Director of IT and that the offer has been accepted. This week will see the CEO pursuing Legal Counsel for the Detention Center.
The next meeting of the Trust will be on June 1 at 1:00pm.
Columnist covering local government in Oklahoma City and Oklahoma County from May 2019 through June 2023.
