Officials are working through the many logistics of finding a place to hold inmates in the Tulsa County Courthouse within a 30-day deadline imposed by the city.
But one day after the deadline to vacate a city-owned facility was announced, County Commissioner Ron Peters thinks the county will meet it.
“It’s not going to be easy. Don’t get me wrong,” Peters said.
On Wednesday, Mayor G.T. Bynum revealed a plan to open a city-owned jail in the space the county currently uses daily to hold Tulsa Jail inmates as they await court proceedings.
The space is in the city’s Police-Courts Building, which is adjoined to the Tulsa County Courthouse. The city has used the area for jail space in the past.
Now that they must find space in the county's building, the first order of business for county leaders is deciding between space on the courthouse’s third floor and an area on the first floor that has been vacant since former Sheriff Stanley Glanz left office.
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The new space would have to be outfitted for holding inmates while they await court proceedings, and that cost has not yet been estimated, Peters said.
“Basically, we’re just now putting together a team,” Peters said. “I talked with (Sheriff Vic Regalado), and after our conversation, he thinks he can be moved in 30 days, no problem.”
Aside from the actual location, the county is working on other logistics to reduce expenses, using the change as an opportunity to enact more efficient processes, Peters said.
One avenue that is being explored is the expansion of video conferencing so inmates can make court appearances without leaving the Tulsa Jail, Peters said.
Another change could be updating software for integrated city-county records systems will continue to work in the new space, he said.
Since no inmates will be staying overnight in the courthouse holding area, Peters said renovation of office space will be minimal.
No traditional prison bars are necessary for most prisoners because all will already be in handcuffs, he said.
“There’s several offices down there (in Glanz’s former office), so we can keep people segregated,” Peters said.
