Del City Mayor Files Complaint Against Okla. County Commissioner Ahead Of Jail Vote

Oklahoma City Councilors will determine the fate of the new Oklahoma County jail site on Tuesday.

The site is near Del City and Mayor Floyd Eason says he questions the legality of why this site was selected. So, he said he filed a complaint against one of the commissioners to speed up an open records request made months ago.

“If you're trying to hide something that means there's something to hide,” said Del City Mayor Floyd Eason.

Eason says he believes the answer he’s searching for is hidden inside public records requested from Oklahoma County District 3 Commissioner, Myles Davidson.

“We're looking for conversations between the superintendent of Crooked Oaks Schools, we're looking for conversations between the seller of the property and what negotiations have taken place,” Eason said. 

Eason said the open records request was made by a Mid-Del school board member back in February. “We're getting stonewalled, we're getting slow rolled, they're just not sending the documents,” Eason said.

That’s why Eason said he filed the complaint. The Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the complaint is under investigation and was filed with the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office. “Mostly we're looking for the inside story of why this site keeps coming back,” Eason said.

Eason says that the site sits along Grand Boulevard and is just a few hundred feet from the heart of his city, near neighborhoods, schools, and nursing homes.

If the Oklahoma City Council approves a special zoning request by the property owner, the county would then be able to purchase the land to build the new jail. Eason hopes the city won’t let that happen. “Put yourself in our place, how would you feel if they were releasing 100-150 detainees every day in your neighborhood,” he said. “Oklahoma City is our neighbor and has been our neighbor since our town was incorporated and we're trusting our neighbors to help look out for our citizens.”

Eason said he expects to see a huge crowd of supporters at Tuesday’s meeting all wearing red in solidarity to protest the site. “I hope that the council members of Oklahoma City Council understand that we have support from the entire eastern Oklahoma County, all the communities,” he said. “It could be the end of it Tuesday however if they vote yes or if the District 3 commissioner persists in pushing this location, we're gonna fight it.”

Commissioner Davidson’s spokesperson Caroline Grace released the following statement regarding the complaint and open records request:

“Our office has received notification regarding the complaint about the outstanding open records request. While we have not seen this document or reviewed the specific details of the complaint, our team is actively addressing it. We are committed to ensuring that the requested information is provided to the individual who filed the request by the end of the day.”