Oklahoma County Commissioner Jason Lowe had planned to ask his fellow commissioners to authorize an investigative audit of the county jail trust Monday, but that proposal is now on hold until the board’s next meeting after Lowe said he received further guidance from the District Attorney’s Office.
Lowe, who represents District 1, began Monday’s meeting by explaining why he wants State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd to review the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority. Colloquially known as the jail trust, the nine-member body oversees the day-to-day operations of the jail.
“My purpose here is responsibility,” Lowe said. “It is our responsibility to provide accountability, transparency and, most importantly, to abide by state law. Once again, I would like to reiterate that we have some great members who serve on our trust. We have some great employees who work at the Oklahoma County Jail. And what I’m doing here is far from a personal attack. It’s to make sure we’re accountable to the people who elected me to serve and, most importantly, also to the county as a whole.”
Despite years of public concern about the jail trust and its origins, the idea appears unlikely to move forward owing to a lack of support from the board’s other two members. District 2 Commissioner Brian Maughan said he opposes the audit request by Lowe because of what it would cost an already money-strapped county government. Oklahoma County would be required to pay for the complete cost of the audit by Byrd’s office.
“I’m against it,” Maughan told reporters following Monday’s meeting. “One, we don’t have the money now that we need to go ahead and close the budget for the rest of the year, and [requesting an audit] would be — I’m told by Ms. Byrd — over $100,000 at a minimum. She said to me that she wouldn’t be able to do that within this calendar year. That’s the end of her term, so then it would go to the next auditor, and who knows what from there. So to me, it’s just not really going to help us with what we’re trying to face right now.”
District 3 Commissioner Myles Davidson, who is a member of the jail trust, also appeared to be opposed to requesting an audit from Byrd’s office. Asked following the meeting if he supports the idea, he seemed dismissive.
“We do audits every year,” Davidson said, referring to the jail’s annual evaluation of its spending.
The problems plaguing the current county jail inspired Lowe to run for his post. There have been nearly 60 deaths of detainees at the facility since 2020, and it is chronically understaffed, a problem difficult to remedy amid years of flat budgets and rising costs. The jail is projected to have a nearly $6 million budget shortfall for this fiscal year, which ends June 30.
An investigative audit by the state would likely produce a more comprehensive look at the trust’s finances, and jail trust chairman Jim Holman told The Oklahoman he supports the idea.
“I would welcome it because it would stop any speculation that there are accounting issues at the jail,” Holman said. “I’ve gotten familiar enough with the numbers that I’m confident to say an audit would have favorable findings.”
However, before proposing the idea for a vote from the three-member board Monday, Lowe said he had been advised to wait by Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Behenna’s office. (Byrd confirmed to KFOR she had not yet received an audit request.)
“It was our understanding that this was a proper request by the BOCC, but the DA’s office requested more time for an additional review and coordination with the state auditor’s office before the BOCC can take up this matter,” Lowe told fellow commissioners. “Because of their request, I am seeking to defer this until the March 11 BOCC meeting.”
The delay in voting for an audit sparked frustration from members of the People’s Council for Justice Reform, a group that has long been critical of the jail’s operation. Founding member Mark Faulk, who is challenging Lowe in June for the District 1 seat, told commissioners the delay represents more of the same when it comes to accountability. The PCJR has called for the dissolution of the jail trust and for its operations to be returned to the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office.
“All along our group, People’s Council for Justice Reform, has called for those same types of accountability,” Faulk told commissioners during the public comment section of the meeting. “And yet, here we are, six years later, and now we’re saying, ‘Oh wait, we need an evaluation.’ In reality, what should have happened was that the trust should have been dissolved eight months ago. In fact, Pastor Derrick Scobey was to present that at a meeting but declined to do so because he said he had some wealthy benefactors who were going to be the saviors of the jail. Nothing happened. Nothing changed. This is where we are.”
Maughan said he understands the frustration.
“I’m frustrated with the situation, too. But it’s really, to me, not the point,” Maughan said. “We have to figure out the funding gap right now and figure out how we’re going to bridge that and then go forward and try to get control of the budget so that we don’t find ourselves in this situation next year.”
In 2022 and 2023, a grand jury reviewed issues at the Oklahoma County Jail and released a 15-page report that included a recommendation that the jail trust “self-terminate.” No indictments were issued by the grand jury.
