It appears Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz is stepping slightly back from a stance that as of July 1 the county jail would no longer accept inmates who aren’t facing state charges, unless costs are covered.
After the plan was hammered out by suburban city and police officials as a late-day budget-buster, Glanz tried to smooth the waters Friday, saying he will work with area police chiefs to ensure the new booking policy won’t put undue strain on their budgets.
Good. That sounds like a positive step, and we encourage it.
We suspect Glanz wasn’t focused on how the policy would hit the suburbs, but primarily was firing a shot across the bow of the city of Tulsa. The sheriff and the city are struggling over what constitutes a municipal prisoner and who is responsible for paying for their booking and incarceration costs.
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But Glanz’s plan to charge municipalities $44 to $55 per inmate per day was a cost most communities had not worked into their 2015 budgets. With that said, the county has to figure out a way to be compensated fairly for the actual cost of handling the prisoners.
We need a deal that is fair to everyone. The foundation for such a solution begins with the sheriff accepting the long-standing definition of a municipal prisoner, the city conceding that it needs to pay any legitimate inmate costs and both sides working together to reduce expenses.
Our observation is that Glanz runs the jail well, which is what the people of Tulsa County expect of him. They also expect their local governments to work together in the interest of everyone. The sheriff’s comments that he is willing to work with the local governments is a step in the right direction. We understand the enormous pressure and financial strain that is on city, suburban and county budgets. Sitting down now and hammering out a workable solution for all is the next step.
