Oklahoma County Commissioners Explore Options for Proposed Jail Site

Tendency:

Oklahoma County commissioners are planning the next steps in the structure of the new county jail.

The board met in executive consultation with its legal representative Wednesday morning following last week’s coup by the OKC City Council.

“The city came out and said their site decided first, that their staff, of them, we have the emails,” said Oklahoma County District 3 Commissioner Myles Davidson.

However, last week’s vote through the City Council did not reflect this, as it denied a special permit at 1901 East Grand Boulevard, the one proposed for the new Oklahoma County Jail.

“We did what we were asked to do and we betrayed ourselves a little bit,” Davidson said.

Commissioners met with their attorneys to explore their options and added whether the county is sovereign, which could theoretically allow them to continue with the structure near Del City.

“Those are some of the questions we ask to the legal suggestion about how we can do that,” Davidson said.

The selection of the site was met with strong opposition and threats of legal action if the county went ahead.

“Whatever we decide to do will eventually face litigation,” said Brian Maughan, commissioner of Oklahoma County’s District 2. “I think we want to be prepared and anticipate that in the most productive way possible for Oklahoma County taxpayers. “

The board said its biggest fear right now is wasting ARPA funds, federal money that would be used to build a fitness center adjacent to the new prison.

“I was the only one who voted against the Great Site,” said Carrie Blumert, commissioner of Oklahoma County’s District 1. “I didn’t like this site, I felt I had to support Del City, but I also understood that we don’t have a short time and we have to get on with anything and we’re looking to find out what that is.

County commissioners will resume their discussions Monday.