Maughan tours jail, applauds advances
He says fewer inmates expressed complaints
One Oklahoma County commissioner’s evaluation of jail conditions offered a contrast to the standard criticism of the jail trust during Monday’s county meetings.
Each county commissioner is required by law to tour the jail at least once annually. District 2 Commissioner Brian Maughan said that he tries to go at different times of the year and to bring different people with him to allow detainees and conditions to be observed and questioned at random.
“This is my 21st year of frame of reference to the building,” Maughan said. “This is the best tour that I’ve had since I’ve been in there.”
Maughan said he was so impressed that he has invited District Attorney David Prater to join him for a tour. Maughan said that in light of Prater’s call for a grand jury investigation into the jail and trust, it’s important for him to see the jail firsthand. Attempts to reach Prater for comment regarding Maughan’s invitation were not answered at the time of publication.
“I think it’s hard to, even for me, to describe in this report all the number of improvements that have been made without visibly seeing it,” Maughan said.
He said the trust has not only successfully made significant repairs, but managed to do so during the COVID-19 pandemic. The jail’s pandemic response and numbers have previously been criticized by community members.
“There were so many problems with that being a hot spot for COVID and then there were also a number of issues with just the transition and taking over,” he said.
In his monthly report of jail conditions, Administrator Greg Williams said there were no positive COVID-19 results among the 192 inmates tested between Oct. 9 and Oct. 15. Of the 649 detainees tested between Sept. 16 and Oct. 15, the jail saw seven positive results.
Maughan said inmates he encountered expressed fewer complaints than in years past and, while noting some deficiencies that still existed, he said jail administrators seemed to have a clear plan in place to work
toward solving them. He also said the commissioners and budget board are working to find funding for additional improvements.
Despite Maughan’s citing positive changes at the jail, some citizens continued to bring criticism of the trust and jail conditions, inmate deaths and failed state health inspections, including the most recent health inspection, which led to the relocation of juvenile detainees to Pawnee County.
Williams also said the jail is planning a trip to the Pawnee County Detention Center. With Pawnee County at capacity, the plan is to start the transition of some of those juvenile detainees back to Oklahoma County, he said.
Most recently, citizen concerns have returned to overpopulation at the jail, rated for 1,200 people, and conversations to fund a new, larger facility.
Williams reported the average daily inmate count for September was 1,781. Of those, more than 1,000 came from Oklahoma City Police Department, and just over 300 were Oklahoma County Sheriff ’s Department arrests. The next highest totals were for prisoners brought to the jail from Edmond and Del City, he said.
Oklahoma County resident Sean
Cummings also raised a concern about his attempts to tour the jail at both meetings. Cummings said that he was directed to contact Timothy Tardibono, executive director of the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Advisory Council, to arrange a jail tour.
The advisory council, a group of community and business leaders established by the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, is neither officially affiliated with the jail nor does it have any legal authority over the jail. However, several trust members do serve on the advisory council.
“I’m curious of why myself and other people now have to get permission from somebody who represents the chamber of commerce to see the inside of the jail,” he said. “It seems suspect when he’s the guy trying to sell the new jail idea.”
Jim Couch, chair of the jail trust, confirmed that Tardibono is not an employee of the jail. According to jail spokesman Mark Opgrande, Tardibono has been organizing jail tours since before the trust took over the jail.
“All tours are run through Tim and CJAC (Criminal Justice Advisory Council). It’s been that way for many years,” he said in an email. “It started under the sheriff when CJAC was formed.”
Opgrande said he is able to arrange tours only for the media relating to specific areas for stories, such as how coronavirus relief aid has been spent.