Access to the County Jail by a Federal Agency is Denied by the Oklahoma County Board of County of Commissioners
Without providing a detailed explanation, Oklahoma County commissioners unanimously voted on October 2, 2017 to deny an inspection request made by the U.S. Justice Department. The potential for a costly federal lawsuit is the risk of refusing to cooperate with the request to inspect Oklahoma County Jail. Lawyers from the civil rights division of the Justice Department had requested to tour the jail from November 6 thru 10. The purpose was to assess compliance to a 2009 agreement to improve conditions for prisoners. The chairman of Oklahoma County’s Board of County Commissioners, Brian Maughan, made a statement after the vote to the effect that he thinks all within their power has been done, and he thinks that most of the concerns have been satisfied, which deserves recognition.
The Oklahoma City jail came under federal oversight in 2009 for overcrowded conditions and 60 alleged civil rights violations. The following were among the alleged civil rights violations that were identified at that time:
- Direct supervision of detainees was virtually nonexistent;
- Suicide prevention was deficient;
- Healthcare was inadequate; and
- The risk of detainee-on-detainee violence was inordinately high.
Reportedly, civic leaders as well as county and city officials have been concerned for years that there might be a federal takeover of the jail because of the 2009 investigation. The sheriff in Oklahoma County, who is newly elected, reports that the daily average population size at the jail has dropped from 2,700 as of May 2014 to the 1,900s. The jail was built to house 1,200 prisoners.
The first new sheriff in two decades has made many improvements, such as repairs inside cells. In July of 2017, however, prisoner homicide occurred for the first time since 2004. Four detainees were charged with first-degree manslaughter in the gang-related homicide.
Problems currently identified at the jail include the presence of black mold in the jail kitchen and other areas and a lack of hot water. In addition, the district attorney is reportedly considering filing criminal charges against detention officers due to alleged improper actions leading to prisoner deaths.
As with every post on this website, we are only providing information in this post and do not make any allegation or assertion that anyone acted inappropriately or engaged in misconduct.
–Guest Contributor
smchugh
smchugh