County jail gets poor grade

CNHI News Service

The Cleveland County Jail is in dire straits, compounded by an ultimatum the state Health Department issued Monday.

At a meeting of the Cleveland County Board of Commissioners, state Health Department Jail Inspector Don Garrison gave the county 45 days to let him know how the jail's overcrowding problem is being resolved.

If plans are found to be unsatisfactory, Garrison said, the county could be slapped with fines of up to $10,000 a day for noncompliance with health and safety standards -- or the state Health Commissioner could ask the attorney general to close down the jail. That could result in federal authorities stepping in, he said. "Building a jail to federal guidelines would be much more expensive. That's what happened in Garfield and LeFlore Counties.

"The jail is a hazard to employees and county citizens," Garrison told the commissioners. "Now it's up to you guys."

The Cleveland County Detention Center was built in 1984 for a maximum 139 inmates. On Monday the jail held 193 serving jail time, awaiting court appearances or being held for transport to state prisons, sheriff's department officials said.

Cleveland County commissioners recently approved recommendations from an Oklahoma jail consulting firm to convert some of the jail's common area to hold another 16 inmates, at a cost of about $135,000. Garrison said he will not accept such "patchwork" or other stopgap measures. The landlocked, two-story jail was not designed to add more floors. "Planning to put 16 more into an already crowded jail doesn't make sense," Garrison said.

A County Jail Committee formed in June recommended construction of a new 500-bed county jail, based on population guidelines. The committee found the Cleveland County facility has held an average of 212 per day over the past year. A 2002 study of the county jail produced similar findings.

In recent months, 20 Cleveland County inmates have been kept in the Pottawatomie County Jail in Shawnee and transported to court and back by sheriff's deputies. The contract for confining county prisoners in the Shawnee jail is costing the county $28 per inmate per day, or more than $200,000 a year.

In December, the commissioners appointed Architects in Partnership, a Norman firm, to design a new 500-bed jail. The firm has completed several jail projects in the state, including the 300-bed, $8 million Creek County Jail. The firm has other jail projects under way in conjunction with courthouse renovation projects in LeFlore and Pittsburg Counties.

Cleveland County commissioners said the county is in the planning phase for a new jail, and that will require some time. After the planning process, building the jail could take as much as two years, officials said.