Advocacy Group Calls On Okla. County Commissioners To Reallocate ARPA Funds

As Oklahoma County Commissioners weigh their options on securing a jail site, an advocacy group is calling on the board to reallocate county ARPA funds.

The $50 million in federal funds are set aside for the building of a behavioral health center next to the new county jail.

Friday morning the People’s Council for Justice Reform held a press conference asking commissioners to distribute that money instead to communities to build their mental health facilities.

"That 50 million could be spent tomorrow,” said Mark Faulk, People’s Council for Justice. “They could give it out to the communities and let communities build separate mental health facilities, community based and ran by community members who know best what is best for the community."

However, Commissioner Brian Maughan says the board is committed to making sure the county doesn’t lose those funds.

“The timeline constraints are going to apply to whoever the recipient should ever be so if it turns out we give it to other facilities as they suggest they're going to have to comply with doing it under these constraints as well,” said Brian Maughan, Oklahoma County Commissioner, District 2. “Their ability to do so is probably going to be greatly scrutinized and could be determined that that won’t be practical. On the other hand, if you give it out to existing facilities and other programs it will probably only go for short-term use then after some time there won’t be anything left to show for that type of investment."

The Board of County Commissioners says it is still looking into the site near Del City to build the jail and is planning to discuss how to move forward on that site on Monday.