Committee puts together list of changes for Oklahoma County jail koco.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from koco.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Critical comments lead Oklahoma County Jail Trust's Monday meeting oklahoman.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from oklahoman.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Oklahoman
The Oklahoma County Jail Trust signed an agreement Monday with the Pawnee County Sheriff s Office for use of Pawnee County s detention facilities for housing youthful offenders.
The contract came after the trust was forced to relocate juvenile detainees after a failed Oklahoma State Department of Health jail inspection. The June 23 inspection, an unplanned follow-up to one in February, cited 35 deficiencies at the Oklahoma County jail.
The Pawnee County Detention Center was chosen after Oklahoma County administrators contacted numerous facilities across the state and did a tour, according to releases from the two counties. They came and inspected the jail and decided we fit those needs, said Pawnee County Sheriff Darrin Varnell.
A lawyer for a 16-year-old first-degree murder defendant called the conditions at the Oklahoma County Detention Center subhuman and deplorable. The comments were made during a hearing Wednesday where a judge ordered the jail to move the juvenile murder defendant out in the wake of a report from the Oklahoma State Department of Health that found dozens of violations and said the jail needed to move out all juvenile inmates.The county, however, originally said the ban on holding juvenile defendants didn t apply to juveniles charged with first-degree murder. On Wednesday, a judge disagreed. These are still children. They re still deserving of protection, attorney Tommy Adler said while arguing his 16-year-old client needed to be moved out of the Oklahoma County Detention Center immediately.Judge Amy Palumbo agreed and signed the transfer order.The Oklahoma County Jail Trust said it was already finalizing a plan to move the dozen or so juveniles charged with first-degree murder,