Oklahoman
The Oklahoma County Jail Trust and administrator are working to move the facility s remaining youthful offenders after being told last week it no longer could house juveniles in response to an Oklahoma State Department of Health inspection.
As of Monday afternoon, the jail held 12 offenders under the age of 18, all of whom face first-degree murder charges, Jail Administrator Greg Williams said. The Health Department said in a letter that all juveniles were to be relocated by July 16.
Originally, District Attorney David Prater s office said the jail should be able to house defendants facing first-degree murder charges under state law. After a meeting Monday afternoon between Oklahoma County Judge Ray Elliot and several jail officials, a decision was made to move the remaining juveniles.
By: Barry Mangold
OKLAHOMA CITY -
The Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority, also known as the jail trust, briefly limited entry to a virtual-only meeting on Monday, which one expert said could constitute a violation of state transparency laws.
After about 40 minutes, the trustees voted to adjourn due to technical issues including poor audio quality.
The meeting was held on the Cisco Webex virtual meeting platform, which was linked in the trust’s agenda.
During the meeting, a group of more than 10 people were briefly held in the Webex virtual “waiting room.” One county staff member said during the meeting they were only granting access to those who signed up for public comment.
Oklahoma County Jail remains dangerously overcrowded By: Keaton Ross Oklahoma Watch April 14, 2021
The Oklahoma County Detention Center. (Courtesy photo/Oklahoma Watch)
When U.S. Department of Justice investigators inspected the Oklahoma County Detention Center in April 2007, they discovered that severe overcrowding was causing significant harm to detainees.
“Throughout the facility, we found detainees sleeping on the floor and three or four detainees locked into two-man cells,” investigators wrote in a 2008 report that found conditions inside the facility did not meet constitutional standards. “The detainees spend nearly 24 hours per day in these cramped quarters.”
The jail’s population has dropped by about a third over the past 12 years – from 2,412 in June 2009 to 1,595 on March 31. The Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Advisory Council, a group tasked with recommending solutions to reduce the jail’s population, attributes the decline to changes i
Population Reduction Could Help Improve Oklahoma County Jail Conditions publicradiotulsa.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from publicradiotulsa.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.