Oklahoma County Officials Continue Search For New Jail Site

The search for a new jail site continues. Oklahoma County officials are taking proposals for another month, saying none of the original 11 sites were ideal. Oklahoma County commissioners say extending the process will be the best way to ensure they’re safely spending taxpayer dollars. 

“It's just a brief look,” said Brian Maughan, Oklahoma County Commissioner for District 2. “I just think it's worth giving a little bit of time to see if we could avoid a lot of headaches later on down the road.”

The county received $44 million in American Rescue Plan Acts funding, or ARPA funds, to build a new county jail. The process began in 2022, and they received 11 original proposals.

“None of those that were submitted before the deadline were ideal there's some downsides to each of them,” said Maughan.

During a county commissioner meeting this week, 4 of the eleven locations were crossed off the list.

“We will work with those if we don't have anything new come in that's really worth considering. But we may have something better with these new ones,” said Maughan.

The location at Northeast 10th and I-35 was removed due to environmental concerns. The site at 50th and Lincoln was bought by another bidder. The Portland and Memorial land was not easily accessible, and the location at I-35 and Britton Road was deemed to be too close to a theme park.

While these each had their own concerns, Maughan says all of the locations have brought up frustrations from neighboring residents or businesses.

“It may not be holistic with the neighborhood, there are probably downsides with each of the original 11 submissions that relate to that,” said Maughan.

Many residents were unhappy with sites that back up to large neighborhoods, and one plot of land near the airport has sparked concern for tourism levels.

“It may be that no matter where we go, it's not going to be completely wanted and we understand that somebody might be unhappy no matter what choice we make, but ultimately we have to build one,” said Maughan.

The site must be 40-80 acres and cannot be within 1,000 feet of any school.

“We're just hoping to get the best outcome for the taxpayers,” said Maughan.

The deadline to submit new site proposals is August 23rd. The application is open to anybody who wishes to submit a proposal.

The next step will be finding a contractor and location, as well as a design for the new jail by December 24.