Oklahoma County Jail Inmate Population At Historic Low Due To Coronavirus (COVID-19) Precautions

Hundreds of offenders are being released to prevent coronavirus (COVID-19) from spreading inside the Oklahoma County Jail. The inmate population is at a historic low, according to county jail officials.

“We’ve seen our daily average go down about 200 inmates per day,” said Mark Myers, Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office.

The population has gone down from more than 1,700 inmates to under or around 1,500 in only a matter of weeks. The first step was Oklahoma County Sheriff PD Taylor asking police chiefs in the county to prioritize arrests.

“If they are going to make an arrest of someone,” said Myers. “And if it’s someone who is a misdemeanor or non-violent offense, basically just cite and release that person.”

The Oklahoma County court system also stepped in to identify offenders who could be released quickly.

“Just today, I’m seeing the average length of custody of people being brought into the jail is about two days,” said Myers.

Also, inmates who were on hold for other counties have been picked up.

“We saw those counties hastily either come and pick up the inmates to come and get them out of our jail into their jail,” said Myers. “Or go ahead and order a release to get them out of our facility and catch up with them later.”

Myers said none of the jail employees or inmates have tested positive for COVID-19. But just in case, there is a pod set up to quarantine inmates who show symptoms.

“They can be isolated for 10 days to not have to go into the general population,” said Myers. “I’m telling you the last thing we want is for that virus to be inside that building. Obviously, we have a group of people who cannot just get up and leave.”

Hundreds of Oklahoma Department of Corrections inmates are being held in the Oklahoma County Jail. However, DOC is not transferring them into their system right now.