Last Updated on August 6, 2023, 3:06 AM | Published: March 6, 2023
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma County Jail Trust determined a path for choosing leadership of their own body and of the Oklahoma County Jail Monday.
And, from the sentiment in the trust Monday, the interim CEO of the Jail, Maj. Brandi Garner, is set to become the permanent CEO at the next meeting.
The Trust has been facing a number of troubling issues and vacancies of late.
At Monday’s meeting the Trust endeavored to address two of those issues, the search for a permanent CEO and the election of a chair. The chair’s seat has been vacant since the resignation of Jim Couch in December.
Another vacancy on the Trust was filled by the Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) last week when the Board unanimously voted in favor of adding Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Michael Thompson to replace Adam Luck’s at-large seat after Luck’s abrupt resignation last month.
While the Trust did take meaningful votes on both the CEO question and the election of a chair, neither of those issues were solved on Monday, but a path forward for each was plotted.
Marty Peercy reports Local government
Support for interim CEO Garner
Monday’s meeting started, as usual, with public comment. All commenters spoke positively about Interim CEO Brandi Garner’s performance thus far. Each commenter recommended keeping Garner on permanently in that role.
The agreement on Garner was significant coming from some of the most ardent critics of the jail and the Trust. There was consensus among factions who rarely agree on Trust issues.
The agenda for the meeting included an item for discussion and possible action relating to potential hiring a person or a firm to assist in a nationwide search for a new permanent CEO.
Brandi Garner has been filling that position since the resignation of original Jail Trust CEO Greg WIlliams, who left under community pressure from activists and clergy.
Judging only from the comments of the public and most Trustees, Garner has been successful thus far in her service. Detainees are getting more time out of their cells and the population has been reduced noticeably. Today’s population count was 1,461, down over 100 since last month’s report.
Garner has been working toward having more Medical Own Recognizance Bonds issued by the courts. Forty-nine were requested over the last month. Only 11 were granted. One request was for a man named Kenneth Parrot. Parrot was denied a Medical OR for his significant pre-existing conditions. He died in custody at hospital.
Vote set for permanent CEO
As for the process of hiring a new CEO, the Trust seemed not entirely convinced it was a priority any longer, especially after hearing that the jail anticipates a $1.6 million deficit this fiscal year.
Sheriff Tommie Johnson, III specifically said that maybe that money could be better used for operations.
Pastor Derrick Scobey made the humble suggestion that instead of hiring a search firm, they table the item until next month. In the meantime, Trustees can promote to the public that at the next meeting they will be voting on whether or not to hire Brandi Garner as the permanent CEO.
That will give the community of Oklahoma County an opportunity to offer any feedback or input they wish. Scobey said that they needed to show the community that they have done their due diligence as a Trust.
The Trust voted unanimously for that motion. On April 3 the Trust will take a vote on hiring Garner permanently. When the vote concluded there was applause from the gallery.
Trust Chair
Since Couch’s resignation, Vice-Chair Sen. Ben Brown has been acting as the chair.
Scobey initially nominated Steven Buck to be the new chair. Buck graciously declined the nomination citing professional obligations that could conflict with that over the next few months.
Buck brought up the fact that two members of the Trust will have their terms end soon. He suggested moving chair elections to June so that any new chair could take their seat at the beginning of the fiscal year in July.
Ultimately a motion was made to elect Brown as Chair until June, at which time an election for the Chair and Vice-Chair will be held.
The Trust will meet again on April 3 at 1:00 p.m.
Columnist covering local government in Oklahoma City and Oklahoma County from May 2019 through June 2023.
