Correction: This story was updated at 9:39 p.m. Aug. 4 to reflect the correct number of inmates held at the Oklahoma City jail.
Cleveland County Commissioners approved a proposed agreement with the Oklahoma City Municipal Facilities Authority Monday that would allow Oklahoma City to house inmates at the Cleveland County Detention Center, sending the agreement to Oklahoma City council for final approval.
Commissioners approved the amended agreement 2-1, with District 2 County Commissioner Jacob McHughes voting against it.
The Oklahoma City Municipal Facilities Authority would pay $68 a day, or about $24,000 annually, for each inmate housed at the detention center and will cover any additional medical costs.
The Oklahoma County jail can hold up to 2,890 detainees, as first reported by the Oklahoman. As of December, the jail held a total of 1,454 inmates. Sheriff Chris Amason confirmed to OU Daily Monday the Cleveland County Detention Center has a capacity of about 580 inmates. Undersheriff Michael Finley said that, as of Monday morning, there are about 490 inmates at the center.
The amendments, proposed by District 3 County Commissioner Rusty Grissom, include limiting the terms of the agreement from one year to six months and only accepting Oklahoma City detainees arrested in parts of the city that are within Cleveland County boundaries, which Grissom said was due to the detention center being funded by Cleveland County taxpayers.
The amended agreement also addresses concerns for inmate transportation back to Oklahoma City that were not previously addressed in the original agreement. Melissa Smuzynski, county director of communications, said one of the reasons for limiting the agreement to Cleveland County was to address inmate transportation concerns following release.
District 1 County Commissioner Rod Cleveland noted that Oklahoma City makes up a third of Cleveland County’s population.
“I’m sure that over the next six months we can examine it and see how we can be good partners with Oklahoma City,” Cleveland said. “Since they are a third of the population of Cleveland County, it’s not like they’re a completely different city in another county. They are part of Cleveland County.”
Grissom attributed current jail operations as a reason to limit the term agreement. With a history of inmate deaths, failed health inspections and overspending, Grissom said he wanted to ensure commissioners have a chance to reevaluate the agreement’s impact on the detention center.
“Six months ago (the jail) had a bad health department inspection. They had a lot of deficiencies,” Grissom said. “They’ve recently made some improvements, but I think they’ve still got a ways to go.”
Smuzynski said limiting the terms of the agreement allows the commissioners to reevaluate and decide if they want to expand the plan to include all Oklahoma City areas.
“They’ll speak to local law enforcement to make sure that this has not created any type of additional strain on public resources or social services and determine whether they want to continue with the same terms of the contract, potentially expanded to accept (detainees) from other areas of Oklahoma City municipality,” Smuzynski said.
Cleveland noted local police departments and the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office will work together throughout the terms of the agreement.
“We’ll be reviewing (the agreement) and trust that the police departments and sheriff’s office are working together to make sure that we analyze any kind of situations in our community,” Cleveland said.
A spokesperson for the Oklahoma City Police Department told OU Daily Monday a statement may come from the department following the final decision from Oklahoma City Council. Council’s next meeting is set to take place Aug. 12.
This story was edited by Ana Barboza and Natalie Armour.
