Oklahoma County Commissioners Approve Bond For New Jail

Oklahoma County is one step closer to a new jail. Commissioners voted Monday to hold a special election in June. It will ultimately leave the decision on how the jail will be funded. to residents. 

That special election will happen June 28 and will ask residents if they support a $260 million bond to fund the new detention center's construction. Those in favor said the number may come with some sticker shock; but citizens will be included on how it's spent in the process. 

"30 years ago, there was no public input there was no transparency. There was no accountability," explained Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Board member, Timothy Tardibono. 

Oklahoma County Commissioners aim to prevent history from repeating itself and voted to hold a special election in June that'll ask for resident input on funding how the new detention center will be funded.  

"The way it was done there were some decisions made at the last minute then ended up not being for the good," said County Commissioner for District 3, Kevin Calvey. He continued, "but you can't fix some things, like 13 stories. Just from basic design." 

Commissioner Calvey added a new facility will mean better quality of life for inmates, and fewer lawsuit settlements will be put on taxpayers' shoulders. 

"We just resolved one lawsuit that was well over $1 million, and the figure for the last several years before that was like $20 million." 

Those in favor said if passed in June, the bond will not increase taxes. 

"[The proposition would] continue the rate that they previously approved. It's not an increase of what [constituents are] already been paying. This will maintain it and we're doing it over a long period of time," explained County Commissioner for District 2, Brian Maughan. 

News 9 previously reported the new jail has an estimated cost of $300 million. Commissioner Maughan said American Rescue Plan Act money can be used indirectly to fill the gap.  

"They [ARPA funds] can't work directly with paying for construction of the new jail but they can do what the federal term is supplanting so we can cover certain items that will be allowed by law to replace our budget that then frees up general fund dollars," said Maughan. 

Those against the proposition say it's not the building, but those in charge and the lack of mental health services are the problem. 

 "We wanted them to build a mental health facility first and then we could discuss a jail because it would empty hundreds of people out of this jail so they can do renovations," said Jail Activist, Sean Cummings. 

Monday, Commissioners also approved the creation of a citizen advisory board to oversee the jail's design and how it's being run. That will only happen if the bond passes.