Oklahoma County needs to decide soon where to build the new jail, a citizens oversight board decided Tuesday.

Even though the board did not recommend a particular location, it voted to send a message to commissioners that “time is of the essence.”

The six members of the Citizens Oversight Advisory Board unanimously supported a motion made by member Sandino Thompson to urge Oklahoma County’s Board of County Commissioners to decide where to build a new jail.

“It’s not like we can tell them what to do, but if it is helpful that we line out we do concur with what we have been told about some of the challenges the current timeline poses,” he said.

Thompson said that without selecting a site, pricing and schedule won’t be firmed up, so making a decision soon could help control costs.

“We have given our recommendations for locations, and they have a challenging decision to make there,” he said. “We need to give them affirmation that we are at the point where we need to try to control costs and not lose access to the ARPA funds.”

Stacey Trumbo, Oklahoma County’s engineer, told board members construction costs in Oklahoma climbed 23% in 2023, according to an engineering periodical.

Jeff Bradley, global director of HOK’s Justice practice, agreed, telling board members: “It’s millions of dollars every month” while the hunt for a jail location by Oklahoma County continues.

The group, with commission member Pat McCoy absent, voted after Curt Pardee, a principal with design firm HOK, showed them plans it has been working for that type of building, assuming the county could find suitable land.

Where could the jail be located?

Pardee also discussed the challenges trying to build a new jail downtown would present.

If the county were to go that route, only about 10 acres of land immediately to the north of the jail’s existing 8 acres site is immediately available to be purchased, and Oklahoma County also would need to acquire land between the jail and Classen Boulevard to make room for future growth.

More: ‘Fish or cut bait’: Clock ticking on OK County commissioners to select site for new jail

Pardee said a jail with 1,800 beds built north of the existing building downtown would:

• Take longer to build because of a lack of laydown space for construction materials, because of risks tearing the old building down would pose to the new building and because of time and costs it might take to acquire the needed land. “The existing site already is completely used. It would just make it more difficult to work around,” Pardee said.
• Be at least four stories in height with two tiers on each level and require multiple elevators, something Oklahoma County would prefer to avoid. “Elevators have been a big concern for the county,” Pardee said.
• Need a deep foundation because of poor soil, adding more expense to the project. “If this is a $300 million project, it could add $30 million in costs and likely more. It is something to consider,” Pardee said.
• Restrict opportunities to use natural lighting. “it is important as we are talking about how to best treat those who are receiving behavioral health care that they receive the most natural light as possible,” he said.
• Require the closing of a portion of Robert S. Kerr Avenue. “It would take some time to do that,” Pardee said.
• Lack needed room to muster inmates if the main building had to be evacuated for some reason.
• Make it more difficult to keep a behavioral health center for both detainees and other, non-arrested patients proposed as part of the new project (and being paid for by federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars) physically outside of the secure building. “You don’t want a behavioral health center inside of the jail,” Pardee said.
• Jeopardize the use of federal funds, which must be allocated by the end of 2024 for a project that must be opened by the end of 2026. “We have to move forward so we can meet those deadlines,” Pardee said.

“Those are issues with the existing site and why we feel like it makes a lot of sense for the county to look elsewhere,” said Pardee.

Pardee also showed board members potential design layouts HOK could pursue on a large, relatively flat piece of property that would allow for separate public entrances for the behavioral health center and jail, plus showed them renderings of what Oklahoma County’s new jail could look like from the outside.

“It is important to understand jails today are different than they were 30 or 40 years ago,” Pardee said.

Wednesday commissioners meeting prompts renewed concerns from Del City

HOK will make a similar presentation to county commissioners Wednesday.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Commissioner Brian Maughan will ask colleagues to consider eliminating a proposed location for a new jail within Stockyards City from consideration.

At the same meeting, Commissioner Myles Davidson will ask colleagues to agree to pursue buying land near Del City as the jail’s future home.

That caught the attention of Del City’s elected and appointed leaders, who held a community forum at their city hall Tuesday to voice their continued opposition to having a jail built just outside of their community.

J.D. Hock, the community’s city manager, two of Del City’s elected council members, school officials and others reiterated various reasons why Del City opposes placing a new jail at 1901 E Grand Boulevard.

And Loyd A. Berger, Del City’s police chief, issued a separate release stating he believes a jail at that location would “decimate the economic development of this city, facilitate a sharp increase of the homeless population in the vicinity, and put a strain on city resources that would be financially unsustainable for a city of our size.

“As the police department, our primary goal is to ensure the safety of our citizens who reside here. Let’s be clear, this proposed location would cause a potentially unprecedented threat on the public safety of our residents,” Berger said.

Del City Councilwoman Claudia Browne told those who attended the forum she believes the search to find a new home for the jail keeps coming back to a broad perception that the Grand Boulevard area just outside of Del City is largely industrial, with nothing else around it.

That ignores what’s happening in Del City, which Browne said makes her feel as if her community “is the armpit of Oklahoma City.

“I don’t think they are paying attention to our small community,” she said.

Hock, meanwhile, urged as many of the community’s residents as possible to attend Wednesday’s commission meeting.

“Something is not making sense for us,” Hock said. “There’s not transparency. There’s not accountability. What makes this site so viable? It is as if something is missing, and I am not sure what that is. Fear of the unknown is a very big deal right now.”

Plans to handle released detainees being worked on by Criminal Justice Advisory Council

Another major concern amongst neighbors of any potential jail location, including the one near Del City, is where detainees would go after being released from the facility.

Timothy Tardibono, the executive director of the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Advisory Council, told Citizen Bond Oversight Advisory Board members Tuesday his organization is working with Oklahoma County’s Diversion Hub to create a regular shuttle service that would give released detainees a ride between wherever the new jail is built and the hub’s new headquarters west of downtown Oklahoma City during daytime and perhaps during evening hours.

An open holding area where detainees released overnight could stay could be included in the future jail’s design without complications, both he and HOK’s Purdee told board members.

Providing that service would be beneficial to detainees because they could obtain assistance through the Diversion Hub to many services beyond just those meeting the needs of people facing criminal charges.

“The diversion hub does a general intake where they evaluate each person’s eligibility for SoonerCare, Social Security, housing and employment — all of those things,” Tardibono said.

Former detainees could chose to take the shuttle and access the diversion hub, or not, he said.

“There’s a lot of concern about people leaving the facility and walking toward schools and neighborhoods,” Tardibono said. “But we can solve a problem we have currently, where it has been challenging to reconnect with released detainees quickly to get them services.”