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Oklahoma County a national leader in jail bookings

By Associated Press
Published: 4/2/2008 9:57 AM
Last Modified: 4/2/2008 9:57 AM

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Bookings at the Oklahoma County jail rose 53 percent from 2001 to 2006, the fastest growth rate in the nation among major county jails, according to a new Justice Policy Institute study.

The study released Tuesday also showed that Oklahoma County locks people up at a higher rate than all but eight counties in the United States despite chronic overcrowding at its jail.

The study found that in the past two decades, the number of people sent to county jails nationwide has nearly doubled.

This has put a financial strain on the counties, which are forced to commit bigger portions of their budgets to deal with bulging jail populations.

Oklahoma County Sheriff John Whetsel said the 2,850-capacity jail's inmate population has become more manageable in the past year, thanks to a court ruling that forced the removal of several hundred state Department of Corrections inmates from county cells and new District Attorney David Prater's work to speed up prosecutions.

The jail's average daily inmate count is down from about 2,900 a year ago to about 2,400 in recent weeks, Whetsel said.

Maj. John Waldenville, who leads the sheriff's administration bureau, said 78 percent of the department's annual operating budget is spent on the jail. Last fiscal year, the jail's projected operating cost was about $27 million.

Of the 38,296 bookings at the Oklahoma County jail last year, two-thirds were for drug charges, according to booking records.

Nationally, only a quarter of people jailed in 2002 faced drug charges,

according to the study. In 1983 about 9 percent of jail inmates faced drug charges.

By Associated Press

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Kenny, Tulsa (2 years ago)

Don't let this article fool you into thinking a jail is not operated like a business. The more people they can put into the "system", the more money returned into the "system" cycle.

Think about it from an economic standpoint. Lawyers, Judges, Prosecutors, Warden, Jail Guards, Police...Everyone of these people have jobs based on the need of their services. The higher growth rate at this business, the more money or jobs there are to go around.

The more people prosecuted equals more fines, court fees, lawyer fees, and countless other costs to the individual.

All this equals a big problem...the community that the system seeks a growth rate from is the same local community who you live next too, drive to work with, and go to church with. Our Parents did not lock up there neighbors for such frivilious things, especially so many of them. You get out of people what you put in to them. If you put in all your efforts to just feed an economy by sucking the last dollar through prosecutions, then the prosecuted will never be rehabilitated, nor their children.

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PR, Tulsa (2 years ago)

Where are all the people from OKC that comment about how Tulsa is crime ridden and full of thieves? I guess they are locked up in jail......

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jw, canadian (2 years ago)

#1 - all good points, all one has to do is call the cops and somebody 'has' to go to jail and once you get in the system, you have to be bailed out, then you have to plead to a lesser charge to avoid more jail time. But, you have to realize once you get in the 'system' you're not getting out without pleading guilty to something, the DA has to have a check mark in the 'conviction' column.

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jail fee joke, tulsa (2 years ago)

I agree w/#1 there is a lot of fee's never mentioned from jails, I know someone currently in oklahoma custody and the families are the ones who suffer from this system, they're the ones paying the attorneys/court fees, phone calls ($25. for 5 phone calls), I know in the Tulsa jail the inmates practically starve, unless the family sends money for them to eat, soap, shampoo, etc. The more inmates the officers bring in the more money in the system and in their pockets. It is irate, not all inmates are guilty we all know this it's just hard to prove your side when the police put on reports anything they want, they know the laws and how to get around them.

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rogue123, (2 years ago)

I think that's the point of the article - Jails ARE a big part of the Prison Industrial Complex. Prisons and jails are different (and I think the report argues that jails are often overlooked), but both have a role in the capitalist structure of our country.

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LM, Cleveland (2 years ago)

#1 is correct... Illegal Aliens manage to flourish because the System knows it will not make a Dime off of them. Put an Illegal in Jail and u feed them deport them and back they come. No Fines, No Lawyers, Nothing.

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H*te The System, Tulsa (2 years ago)

#1 and others, if what you said was true, there'd be a whole lot more cops out there. The jail population grew 50%--but the number of cops on the street is about the same. So, something might be wrong with your mathematics.

You might also want to take a lesson in city budgeting and the election process. Judges, prosecutors, etc. are usually elected officials. The number of cops on the street is typically determined by City Hall, or the Town Council.

But overall, if you don't like the criminal justice system, don't do anything criminal. Simple enough.

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The Patriot, tulsa (2 years ago)

Interesting article. Last year there were 25, 275 (2/3 of 38,296) OKC residents arrested for possessing minor amounts of drugs. The jail has an operating budget of 27 million 2/3 of which 17.8 million can be linked to processing warehousing feeding clothing delousing etc invitees of the jail. That means an average fine of $705 (17.8 m /25,275 )is the break even point for drug offenders not including legal representation, his honor, court reporter, the meat stick that gets paid to stand at attention etc salaries. Without this drug arrestee infusion there would be 13000 yearly invitees to the jail which would result in massive layoffs at the Sheriff of Nottinghams office. Its time to de criminalize possession of small amounts of drugs and put the money wasted on jails into more productive uses. The war on drugs is nothing more than a money making operation for our most corrupt of institutions the Oklahoma law enforcement and judicial systems.

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