Tablets may soon be available at jail

Inmates at the Oklahoma County jail may be able to access tablets for communication and entertainment in the near future.

The Oklahoma County Jail Trust has put out a request for companies to provide information on telephone services, tablet usage and other offerings like off-site video conferencing.

Detail s haven't been defined, but tablets would be used for email and other messaging platforms, books, music and religious and educational materials, according to the trust's request document.

Those activities would have to be able to be monitored, and any programs that “promote disrespect to law enforcement ,” give instructions on how to escape or generally “encourage criminality” would not be allowed.

“This is not a new idea,” said t rust Chairwoman Tricia Everest. “It is my understanding that idle hands are never good, and the more ways that we can communicate using modern-day technology, the better chance for a positive interruption in a person's behavior cycle.”

Danny Honeycutt, legal counsel to the sheriff's office, said the jail had previously widely used tablets but dialed t he practice back after inmates were breaking the technology. Now the tablets are only available to inmates on the medical floor, receiving and the law library.

It' s likely the tablets would be used as incentives for good behavior, Everest said, and privileges would be taken away accordingly.

This request for information comes soon after Oklahoma County commissioners gave the sheriff's office approval to begin crafting new commissary and food contracts despite several months of repeated requests from the trust not to do so.

Everest said the trust will have to renegotiate any jail contracts once the jail management transition takes place later this year, and i t's possible better deals could be created.

One of the main motivations to push approval for contracts through was the guaranteed commission the sheriff's office will receive, which could be as much as $250,000 in total by July 1.

The trust will be taking information from vendors until Feb. 7.