Oklahoma County Commissioners Vote To Renegotiate Contract For Proposed Jail Site Near Del City

The Board of Oklahoma County Commissioners voted 2-1 to renegotiate the contract for the proposed jail site near Del City. The new contract would allow the county to try and move forward with the planned behavioral health center.

“We don't want to lose that opportunity,” said Brian Maughan, Oklahoma County Commissioner, District 2.

On Monday, Commissioners approved Maughan’s motion to direct the county engineer to renegotiate the contract for East Grand Boulevard, the proposed site for the new county jail. The county secured $50 million in federal ARPA funds to build a mental health facility adjacent to the jail.

“It was something we went to the voters with when we talked about putting a jail in 2022, so we wanted to fulfill that promise and keep it as a companion item,” said Maughan.

However, with OKC City Council denying a special permit to build the jail at that site, commissioners say they needed to make a quick decision to save the $50 million, which has a deadline to use.

“This is a place that appears permissible to build on for that purpose, so we'd like to at least not lose that,” Maughan said.

Those opposed to putting the mental health facility next to the jail were cautiously optimistic by the move.

“I will say this is progress,” said Mark Faulk, People’s Council for Justice. “If they will completely break that away from the jail and say this will not be a feeder for people that are arrested but it will be a community mental health facility then we're okay with that.”

But commissioners say despite a new contract, they still want the mental health facility to be a component to the jail.

“As things progress inside the jail and the deaths that we've had, a lot of those are mental health,” said Myles Davidson, Oklahoma County Commissioner, District 3. “One of the reasons we have the mental health issues is because we don't have the ability. When they built the jail, they did not address the ability to have mental health patients inside the jail.”

The Board discussed two possible jail locations in executive session including 160 acres located at the southwest corner of SW 74th & Rockwell and up to 40 acres located near Reno and Exchange. Some commissioners say they haven’t given up on the East Grand Boulevard site though, despite heavy opposition and threats of a lawsuit if they move forward.

“We're going to explore all options and I would say that includes that site,” said Davidson.

Maughan says they are exploring whether the board is sovereign, meaning they could move forward with the site near Del City without consent from city council.

“It wasn't my preferred attack,” Maughan said. “It seems to me from the council meeting that no matter where we go, we're going to have to put up with this fight.”

The Board hopes to review the new contract at their next regularly scheduled meeting on June 12.