OKLAHOMA CITY – In a 2-1 vote Wednesday morning, the Oklahoma County Board of County Commissioners voted to put a sales tax increase on the general election ballot in November to cover a substantial funding gap for the proposed new county jail.
Oklahoma County residents will vote to establish a 0.40% sales tax (four-tenths of one percent) for the next 25 years, with an aim of generating over $600 million more for the construction, operation, and debt coverage of the long-planned and much-troubled new Oklahoma County Detention Center.
It’s expected to take center stage as an election issue across OKC and the whole of Oklahoma County in coming months as embattled incumbents and newcoming candidates alike take sides on whether an entirely new jail is necessary or whether the multi-hundred million dollar budget could be better spent renovating and updating the current facility.
That question was thrust further into the spotlight this week as the City of OKC released preliminary details of its Downtown Strategic Development Plan that show plans already drawn for the current jail site to be rapidly re-developed into a film studio and higher education campus, plans that County officials say came as a complete surprise.
“I understand and appreciate that it’s a very complicated issue,” District 2 Commissioner Brian Maughan told the audience inside the board chamber following the vote. “It has been an incredible amount of time put into this, and to hopefully bring forward the best, solid proposal that we could offer the community.”
$605 million more to build, run the new jail
That proposal could now include an extra $605 million to cover construction and operating expenses for the new jail, spread out across 25 years in a 0.40% sales tax increase for Oklahoma County, amounting to an extra 40 cents for every $100 spent.
That amount is intended to cover costs for the full new 800,000 square-foot, 1800-bed jail, including on-site diversion and mental health services and more than 300 beds reserved for detainees with specific mental health needs.
If approved by voters in November, that $605 million will join the $260 million approved in 2022 for constructing the new jail, an amount already largely depleted to build an intake center, kitchen, laundry, and more on the new jail site at 1901 E. Grand Blvd., and to move those operations to that site. Without the funding to complete the new facility, the current split-site jail operation could continue indefinitely.
Interim commissioner for District 3, Paul Foster, voted in favor of putting the sales tax on the November ballot, but lamented that, as written, the tax will likely abruptly end in 2052 with no clear avenue for continued funding of jail operations.
“So we end up leaving that problem, essentially, to the next generation,” Foster said, while reiterating that “it’s obvious that funding is needed to complete the full construction of the detention center, pay back the debt service, and have enough for ongoing maintenance and operations.”
District 1 Commissioner Jason Lowe – a longtime vocal critic of the new jail plan and a current runoff contender to hold his seat on the commission – voiced frustration Wednesday over what he called a “reckless” funding plan for the new facility.
“The phased approach taken by Commissioners Maughan and [former District 3 Commissioner] Davidson, resulting in a third of a jail, was reckless,” Lowe said in a prepared statement ahead of the vote, “knowing they did not have the full funds to finish construction on the remainder of the new facility, much less operate it.”
Lowe was the only vote in opposition of the sales tax proposal Wednesday.
City development plans stoke jail tensions
While frustrations were expressed on either side of the dais Wednesday over the fraught funding of the new jail, some also expressed anger over newly released plans from the City of OKC that include the swift redevelopment of the downtown land occupied by the current Oklahoma County Detention Center.
The City of OKC’s newly revealed Downtown Strategic Development Plan includes a film studio and higher education campus where the jail is currently standing.
That’s led some to believe that officials could use those plans as undue incentive for voters to approve the new jail, and that statements about the non-viability of renovating and redeveloping the jail in its current location have been exaggerated.
Jennifer Mayo, Democratic candidate for the District 3 County Commissioner seat currently held by Foster, was on hand at Wednesday’s meeting, where she referred to the City’s plan as a “land grab.”
“We are getting into really deep territory here of phrases like ‘bait and switch,’ ‘sold a lie,’ and ‘voting under duress,’” Mayo said from the podium. “It’s starting to feel uncomfortably accurate.”
Those sentiments were echoed by Lowe in a loudly frustrated address before the vote in which he recalled being told that a new jail could not be constructed in the current jail’s location due to structural concerns in the area making high-impact development impossible.
“Be honest with the public!” Lowe yelled. “I was lied to. The people who spoke and protested were lied to.”
Real estate investor Steve Mason, who serves as chairman of the County Citizens Bond Oversight Advisory Board, clarified that construction in that location would be possible, but would cost up to 20% more to account for the structural concerns, estimating a price tag over $860 million for that scenario.
Lowe then pressed Mason over whether the current jail site would be a better option for the new jail due to its proximity to the courthouse, police station, social services, and public transportation.
“Yes, sir, I agree,” Mason said. “It’s a better location for the services that are around. I agree.”
Brett Fieldcamp is the owner and Editor in Chief of Oklahoma City Free Press. He has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly two decades and served as Arts & Entertainment Editor before purchasing the company from founder Brett Dickerson in 2026.
He is also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
