What's next after OKC Council says no to new county jail proposal?

The Oklahoma City Council said no on Tuesday to plans to build a new jail at 1901 E Grand Blvd.

But Oklahoma County may respond by declaring sovereignty over the site. The move, likely to be contentious, would give the county the authority to authorize a jail's construction there without the city's approval.

Ward 4 Councilman Todd Stone, who represents the area where the jail is proposed, made the motion to deny approval of a requested special use permit that would allow it to be built.

Stone was joined by every other member of the council except for Mayor David Holt, who voted against the denial, and Ward 8 Councilman Mark Stonecipher, who recused himself from considering the issue altogether.

Before making his motion to deny the request, Stone expressed concerns that the project isn't adequately funded.

"If the city manager were to bring us a project that was only 40% funded, I don't think any of us would be voting for it," Stone said. "I have heard from some county commissioners they want to increase the tax or introduce a county sales tax, and this is going to give them an opportunity to do that."

More: Is the hunt for a new jail in Oklahoma County costing taxpayers money? Architects say it is

He also worried how large it ultimately could become, saying he was told initially the county wanted to build a 3,800-bed project, suggesting it might be aiming to operate the jail as a money-making venture.

"I don't know why, but that bothers me — making a profit off of a jail site," Stone said.

Stone also worried about its proximity to athletic fields belonging to Crooked Oak Public Schools, questioning whether talk he had heard about a potential land swap involving the school district and the county is real.

"I don't know if the county really has the intention of completing that. That's a huge concern of mine," Stone said.

He also worried that people released from the jail would have no place else to go but neighborhoods east of Bryant Avenue, part of Del City.

While Stone stopped short of saying he would support the permit request if the county guaranteed it would take people released from the jail downtown before they were set free, he said that could help his concerns.

A transition hub downtown where those arrested could be taken, where jail detainees cued up for court hearings could stay and where people freed from custody could be taken is something he had requested but never really received a response about, he said.

"It also would be a great place to put your behavioral health center," Stone said.

County design team discusses why 1901 E Grand was chosen

Curt Pardee, a principal with HOK, told the council it recommended the Grand Boulevard location as one of the best available spots for a jail after looking at 20 different sites.

Each site was evaluated and ranked based on its size, its topography (flat is better than hilly), its soil quality, its number of owners, its purchase costs, the availability of water, sewer, electrical and natural gas services, its accessibility to nearby roads and if it had sufficient room for future expansion, Pardee said.

If the county were to pursue plans to build a new jail downtown, HOK estimated it could add as much as $150 million to a project that already carries an estimated price tag of $677 million, Pardee said.

Further, high-rise jails are much more difficult and expensive to operate because they require more guards, he said.

"That's not the best solution for this county," Pardee said.

Steve Mason, chairman of the oversight board assembled by Oklahoma County to oversee the project, told Stone and other council members the jail doesn't make a profit and that the county has never held such an intention.

He said the county's top-two sites were close to Will Rogers World Airport — not 1901 E Grand — and were sites offered by Oklahoma City as potential jail locations until the Federal Aviation Administration told the city allowing a jail there could jeopardize future airport-related federal funds.

The county offered to acquire one location close to the airport from Oklahoma City for $2.5 million in October.

"If you guys vote no today, we have got a problem as a community," Mason said. "What do we do? If you vote no today, where do we put it?"

Attorney David Box appeared to represent Garrett & Co. Resources and Willowbrook Investments LLC, current owners of the property who have a pending deal to sell it to Oklahoma County for $5.1 million.

Their request fell within the city's zoning guidelines, said Box, adding that the granting a special use permit allowing a jail at 1901 E Grand would have less impact on the safety and security of neighbors than many other types of uses that could go there with no special use permit required, including animal waste processing, composting or manufacturing or recycling facilities.

Those uses "would be more intense, create more traffic problems and create more issues for surrounding neighbors than what we are proposing today," Box said.

"If you look at the objective criteria you are expected to follow in a special permit application, this special permit application checks all of the boxes."

Oklahoma County commissioners respond to Tuesday's council vote

Brian Maughan, chairman of Oklahoma County's Board of County Commissioners, said Tuesday the council's vote leaves the county with no alternative but to consider declaring sovereignty over the location.

If the county were to declare sovereignty, it would assume the jurisdictional authority to authorize the jail's construction there without needing city approval, he said.

"It hasn't been fully fleshed out in terms of what that looks like when it means a jail," Maughan said. "But it wouldn't be the wild, wild West. We have our own zoning regulations (and building codes), and wouldn't build a building sub-par. It would just be the county enforcing those, rather than the city."

While city council members might want to see the jail remain downtown, Maughan said he isn't even sure they could all agree what the best specific site there would be.

Litigation would be likely if the county were to pursue all of the land it would need downtown through eminent domain.

"This is likely going to be the fight, regardless of what site we select," he said.

County Commissioner Myles Davidson said the city council's vote disappointed him.

"Our current facilities pose significant risk and challenges," Davidson said, adding it appeared to him the city council failed to recognize a new jail is needed to ensure the safety and well-being of both detainees and staff.

"The decision overlooks the critical need for modern, humane detention facilities that can better serve our community," Davidson said.

Commissioner Carrie Blumert was pleased by the council's vote.

"I have been against this site during this entire process. However, since time is of the essence to avoid losing federal ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds for the county's behavioral care center, I remain committed to finding a suitable location for the new jail and will continue to work tirelessly to find an alternative that does not harm our communities," Blumert said.

Residents speak out against proposed location

More than 20 people, most regular critics of either the county's existing jail or proposed new jail location, appeared before the council Tuesday.

Attorney Blaine Nice, part of Stonecipher's law firm and a member of a legal team put together by Del City to fight the county, highlighted its insistence it needs a good jail location so it can get its behavioral health center built before it loses the federal funds that would pay for that project.

"Their emergency is not your emergency," Nice said.

Nadine Gallagher, a teacher at Crooked Oak Public Schools, told council members she feared students she and her colleagues teach in her district could potentially be endangered by people released from the jail if the permit were approved.

"We are an open campus, meaning when my students leave the middle school to go to the library, they leave the building. When they go to lunch, they leave the building. When they go to gym, they leave the building. Children walk around our campus all day," Gallagher said.

Gina Standridge, a member of Del City's board of education, criticized the process the county used to evaluate potential jail locations, saying it failed to take into account the impact a jail would have on nearby neighborhoods, parks and schools.

"Please do not build this on the backs of kids," she said.

Nearly every member of Del City's elected city council also appeared to lodge their opposition against the request Tuesday, as did J.D. Hock, the suburb's city manager.

Oklahoma state Rep. Andy Fugate, D-Del City, also spoke against the request, calling it "eminent domain of the most insidious kind" that would devastate property values of the constituents he represents. "Government is going to take away the value of that property just as surely if it stole it."

Beyond those Del City homes, Fugate said schools, parks, nursing care centers, daycares, churches and more are within a mile of where Oklahoma County wants to build the jail.

"Kids want to play in the parks. They don't want to do that in the shadow of a jail, worried about those who were let out last night," Fugate said.

Most members of the city council cast their votes without comment, but Ward 7 Councilwoman Nikki Nice said she believed it needed to stay downtown.

Ward 2 Councilman James Cooper said he wished people were taught the skills they need while young to keep from being arrested later. He said a different approach to criminal justice here is needed, wishing Oklahoma County's jail design could be modeled after facilities Norway uses to rehabilitate its criminals.

"The focus for anyone who enters Oklahoma's jails or prisons — if we have them — must be on rehabilitation and reintegration," he said. "That should be in the design."

Before hearing from jail designers and protestors, Councilman Stone thanked county commissioners, the county's engineer and the design team for visiting with him about the project for many months.

"I understand it is a tough project, no matter what. Part of the issue I have had with this is that I have gotten so many different answers to my questions from so many different people, it really led to a lot of confusion on my part," he said.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Council says no to plans to build county jail at Del City site