Oklahoma County officials are about a week away from a final trust indenture document to create a criminal justice authority that will, in turn, manage the county jail under a new trust. Oklahoma County jail trust plagued by inmate deaths, escapes. Oklahoma City Free Press is dedicated to providing high quality journalism that positively impacts our community. OKLAHOMA CITY – A new Oklahoma County Detention Center Action Committee has named several proposed members, including two police chiefs, a state senator and several local activists.“It’s tragic. Williams said it was similar to a contract between the trust and the DOC executed last year. The trust took over operation of the jail on July 1. During an Executive Session that lasted over one hour, the Board discussed potentially dissolving the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority (Jail Trust), as well as a potential claim against the State of Oklahoma and the Department of Juvenile Affairs for statutory payment of some costs of running the County’s Juvenile Justice Center. Adriana Laws told the trust she wasn’t surprised to hear from Greg Williams that he has received numerous phone calls from people upset about the current state of the jail. They have every right to be demanding answers. They were all involved in the planning and the processing and also in the actual going in and rescue of the hostage. The Board took no action on the Executive Session item regarding the Juvenile Center. Kevin Stitt appointed jail trust chairwoman Tricia Everest Secretary of Public Safety March 22. Three items were handled on Monday to finally move forward on the North Canadian River Streambank Stabilization/Triple X Road project. Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater has been strongly critical of the jail trust and its turbulent first year of existence. Johnson claimed that he understood and “heard” the concerns of the members of the public, but that his goal for the television show would be to increase public investment in co-creating safety alongside law enforcement. “The jail trust and its administration of the Oklahoma County jail is an abject failure that has cost the lives of inmates, made the environment incredibly dangerous for law enforcement and other jail staff members.”. Nine inmates have died in the jail since the trust took over in July 2020, including five this year. Johnson went on to say that if approved, he would have final say on the edited version of the content that was created and he invited the Commissioners to participate in that eventual review with him. First, the Board approved the recommendation of the lowest and best bid for Construction Management and Inspection. She said that people often feel unduly influenced to sign a waiver for a television appearance because they are at the mercy of law enforcement officers and they may fear reprisal if they don’t sign. The Board expressed gratitude for the assistance in the project. “Tricia is a proven leader who has done a tremendous job over the last few years building successful relationships with law enforcement and delivering meaningful criminal justice reform for Oklahoma,” Stitt said in a statement. Calvey said that his motion did not preclude the Board from issuing a future statement about the state of the Trust. Kevin Calvey, District 3 Commissioner and a member of the Jail Trust, said that he wants the county to work together more with ICE officials and old inmates with detainers for 48 hours. Later, the Board approved an item to accept a donation of a parcel of land from Timothy Dirk Smith by Quit Claim Deed. Williams said 68 DOC officers would begin working at the jail Friday. But she added that the jail needs help. Johnson asked the Board to approve an access agreement with Good Caper Content Production, a company that creates law-enforcement related television content. He also allowed one person to speak, though they came in after the meeting was called to order, a move that Calvey would not have permitted under his chairmanship. The river’s movement now creates a threat to a school in the area. A major step was taken in the years-long saga of the North Canadian Streambank Stabilization/Triple X Road project, and the County learned about another pending problem with the river further north in the County. The BoCC unanimously approved a supplemental Agreement for Services with Meshek Associate in the amount of $50,000 to head off that problem. “We need parameters on the cost,” she said. There have also been two successful escape attempts in that time. “The jail trust and its administration of the Oklahoma County jail is an abject failure that has cost the lives of inmates, made the environment incredibly dangerous for law enforcement and other jail staff members,” Prater told The Oklahoman newspaper. The three Oklahoma County commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to create the trust, which is a nine-member body that will oversee all aspects of the jail, such as facility management and upkeep, inmates, employees … During public comment, many of the speakers were on hand to address this item in particular. “A guard’s life was at risk. Click this linkto support our mission. The Violent Crimes Apprehension Team, which does include members of our tactical unit and the, uh, the patrol had a response as well. First, and perhaps most importantly, was to approve a contract On behalf of the Oklahoma County Juvenile Bureau and the State of Oklahoma-Office of Juvenile Affairs for funding and operation of the Juvenile Detention Center. Another item to approve an agreement with a consulting firm for the Juvenile Center was deferred to the next regularly scheduled meeting. Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/martypeercy . Additionally, he allowed people to far surpass their allotted, some would say restrictive, one minute of speaking time. At Monday’s BoCC meeting, the private discussion about dissolving the Jail Trus resulted in District 3 Commissioner Kevin Calvey moving to not dissolve the Trust. OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — The first meeting is in the books for the Oklahoma County Jail Trust. The services will cost no more than $51,500. The Oklahoma County Jail Trust held a special meeting after Saturday's hostage situation at the Oklahoma County Detention Center that left an inmate dead. The trust took over operation of the jail on July 1. “Please accept this as formal notice of defect pursuant to Section 3.3.A.1 (of our contract),” wrote Flint Junod, CEO of Turn Key Health. Section 194, [if] the deficiencies listed in the report have not been corrected, within sixty (60) days after delivery of the report, the commissioner of health shall be authorized to file a complaint with the attorney general or the district attorney,” State Department of Health detention program manager Barry Edwards wrote in a March 30 letter to jail administrator Greg Williams. This man literally died asking for better living conditions.”. In fact, according to Johnson, a previous agreement with the same company had been approved under another Sheriff. The meeting comes on the heels of yet more controversy for the jail trust, which has been bathed in squabble since the body took over the jail’s day-to-day operations from the Oklahoma County Sheriff Office in July. “Please be advised that pursuant to the same subsection of the contract, we are giving the jail until April 29, 2021, to increase its staffing levels to ensure we are able to have detention staff available to complete medication pass and fulfill our other obligations under the contract, and to ensure adequate detention staff is available to maintain the safety and security of our employees at the Oklahoma County Detention Center.”, The letter says that if staffing levels are not improved prior to April 29, the company “will have no choice but to terminate our contract for cause effective May 31.”. Long-awaited heavy road work around river in east county approved. Johnson acknowledged her point respectfully and offered no argument. The BoCC will meet again in a special session on Wednesday, April 7, at 9:00 a.m. Oklahoma City Free Press is dedicated to providing high quality journalism that positively impacts our community. At times, Thursday’s chaotic and hybrid remote-in person meeting was fraught with technical problems ranging from unmuted microphones, feedback, bad audio and speakers confused about if it was their time to speak. That in itself is completely unacceptable. Berry, former assistant state … An Oklahoma County jail inmate was killed following a hostage situation Saturday. (Screenshot) Since then, inmates have been killed by other inmates, high-profile escapes have gained widespread attention and several staffers have been fired and charged for misconduct. For now, the Trust will continue under their indenture. Department of Corrections officers who typically work in state prisons will be brought in to help supplement jail staff, according to an agreement between the trust and the DOC. OKLAHOMA CITY — In July, the county seized control from the Sheriff’s Office and turned Oklahoma County jail over to the newly formed Oklahoma County Jail Trust. Trumbo said that the river has moved quite a bit in the area near Wilshire and Indian Meridian. The Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority, otherwise known as the jail trust, approved an agreement today with the Oklahoma Department of … The shooting has outraged criminal justice activists who spoke at Thursday’s special meeting. In open session, the Board discussed a request by Sheriff Tommie Johnson III to enter a contract with a television production company who wishes to produce a television show about the Sheriff’s Office apprehending “wanted persons.”. “Pursuant to Title 74 O.S. || "I'm a gadfly, former ne'er-do-well/current rare-do-well. Kevin Stitt. Maughan moved the public comment portion of the agenda to the beginning of the meeting, rather than holding it at the end after all votes had been cast. The motion to bring in the officers was initiated by chairwoman Tricia Everest, who was recently named Oklahoma’s secretary of public safety by Gov. Smith, Roberts, and Baldischwiler is the firm that was chosen. The Trust, which has operated the Jail since July 2020, has been under fire over the course of their tenure as operators of the Oklahoma County Detention Center (Jail) due to an outsized number of deaths at the jail and, in general, other poor and inhumane conditions. This signals a potential return to relative normalcy for public participation in County Government. “It’s never been so understaffed. Sheriff Tommie Johnson said he was concerned about how much the agreement would cost, and he also questioned whether those employees would be paid more than regular jail staff. “I feel like we’re just giving someone a blank check to write whatever they want,” Johnson said. On Monday, Turn Key Health, which provides medical services at the the jail, sent Williams a letter stating it would terminate its contract with the jail if staffing levels were not improved. A jail trust has been created to oversee the financing and operation of the Oklahoma County jail, moving the long-troubled jail toward the possibility of privatization. Oklahoma County Commissioner Kevin Calvey, who also serves on the jail trust, filed the lawsuit to compel to force the trust to do what the commission says. Oklahoma City police shot and killed Curtis Williams, 34, Saturday night on the 10th floor of the jail after police said he held a weapon to a guard’s neck in a hostage situation. The parcel of land is effectively useless to Smith, and without this project being completed, he would stand to lose that parcel to the river anyway. ‘It’s a damn mess’: Fiscal impact, future of charter school funding... Big changes: Stitt signs student transfer, education funding adjustments, Edmond mayoral candidates disagree on masks, avoid positions on developments, UPDATE: Edmond mayoral candidate files campaign report Monday, Amid sexual misconduct investigation, Judge Tim Henderson suspended. Williams said the jail currently has about 330 employees, while the inmate population is more than 1,000. The approval of that contract means that work will finally be able to begin on the project to repair the badly damaged road and install a new bridge. Control of the state’s largest county jail could be placed under the authority of a public-private trust according to a plan considered Thursday by an Oklahoma County advisory group. The group that oversees the Oklahoma County Detention Center discussed a laundry list of issues Thursday. The idea behind the trust is … The Oklahoma County Jail Trust could pay an outside law firm $50,000 in a lawsuit filed by one of its own members. Members … “Oklahoma County has a critical staffing need due to a crisis incident involving OCDC staff affecting availability of detention center employees and supervisors with training to manage secured environments and ODOC has employees with such specialized training,” the agreement states. The facility also received poor marks in its most recent inspection report fro the Oklahoma State Department of Health. District 1 Commissioner Carrie Blumert wearily seconded that motion, and the three Commissioners voted unanimously to not end the Trust. He added that, instead of making things better at the jail, the trust has made the situation worse. Maughan has been contending with this issue for years, and was celebratory of the progress. We give voice to those who aren’t heard and expose that which is hidden from the public. Oversight of the jail was transferred in 2019 from the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office to a nine-member jail trust. I❤️OKC." 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