Tulsa County commissioners kept their promise on Monday and turned up the steam on the long-percolating jail dispute with the city.
Yes votes by Commissioners Ron Peters and Karen Keith extended the $69-a-day rate charged to hold municipal prisoners in the county jail to all municipal inmates, including those also held on state charges, beginning Sept. 1.
The third commissioner, John Smaligo, opposed the resolution, saying the city should be paying even more.
By charging the city for inmates held on so-called “mixed” charges — state and municipal — the county effectively doubles the amount the city has paid in recent years to use the county jail, from about $700,000 to $1.4 million annually.
The city currently pays only for prisoners held exclusively on municipal charges.
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The city and county have operated without a written agreement concerning the jail for more than three years and have fussed about who should pay for what since the facility’s opening almost two decades ago.
Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum, who took office in December, has said the city should pay its fair share but that the county has been unable to show what that would be. The $69 rate was agreed on some time ago, but negotiations bogged down in details.
“Today’s action does not take effect until September,” Bynum said in a written statement. “I will present a plan of action moving forward to my colleagues on the Tulsa City Council by the end of August. Until then, I do not have any further comment.”
Smaligo said Monday’s resolution doesn’t go far enough. For a fourth straight week, he put forward his own proposition, which would charge the city a flat fee of about $3.5 million a year. Smaligo said that is in line with the city’s costs of 30 years ago and with the cost of operating a separate municipal jail.
“I think $3.5 million is reasonable,” Smaligo said. “I don’t think (the proposal that did pass) adequately addresses jail costs.”
Peters, who has been negotiating the issue with the city for 3½ years, said $69 is a fair rate paid by federal law enforcement agencies. The city’s rate will be tied to the U.S. Marshals Service rate, which is re-evaluated every three years.
The jail’s trust documents designate the county commission to set the rate to be paid by municipalities, but Peters had hoped to reach a negotiated agreement with the city for the sake of good will. Peters indicated Monday that possibility still exists, depending on Bynum’s proposal to the Tulsa City Council later this month.
The new municipal rate would apply to all cities and towns in Tulsa County, but Tulsa is the only one now using the jail as a local lockup.
