CITY Resolutions approved Oklahoma City Council approved several resolutions during last week’s meeting. The council unanimously approved an ordinance to be introduced and set for two additional hearings. Jason Ferbrache, director of Central Oklahoma Transportation & Parking Authority (COTPA), presented the ordinance that essentially proposed an increase in fines for cars that obstruct the Streetcar’s […]
jail trust
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Sentencing reform
Criminal justice reform advocates want to amend the Oklahoma Constitution to prohibit sentence enhancements based on previous felonies for nonviolent offenders. The measure would also allow nonviolent offenders serving enhanced sentences to seek a modification in court. “A former conviction for one or more felonies shall not be used to enhance the statutorily allowable range […]
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Running the jail
(This story was updated Dec. 11 to include new information on the sheriff’s deadline and budget requests.) A jail administrator has been selected to run the Oklahoma County jail. Greg Williams, who has worked at Department of Corrections for nearly four decades, was selected unanimously by the jail trust in early November. However, he has […]
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Jail operations
Oklahoma County jail will no longer be operated by the sheriff. While still in the initial stages, Oklahoma Criminal Justice Authority (jail trust) is moving forward with the process to hire an outside jail administrator to take over the operations of the jail. There is no concrete timeline yet for the application or interview processes […]
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Trust discussions
Immigration advocates continue pushing for conversations on the roles law enforcement and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) serve locally. Several community members attended the two most recent Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority (jail trust) meetings to request trustees kick ICE out of the county jail. Since 2015, two ICE agents have been stationed at the […]
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Public trust
County commissioners unanimously voted last week to create Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority, a trust to oversee the Oklahoma County jail’s operations and finances. They also appointed trustees, including District 3 commissioner Kevin Calvey. While there are still many questions about how the jail trust will work, whether the sheriff’s office will continue operating the […]