Oklahoma County Jail Lawsuit Heads To Mediation As $40 Million ARPA Deadline Looms

The lawsuit surrounding the construction of a new Oklahoma County jail could soon be resolved. Both the Oklahoma County Board of Commissioners and Oklahoma City have agreed to enter mediation before Christmas. This move comes as the county board faces a deadline to preserve $40 million in federal funds.

“This money’s not going back to D.C.,” said Myles Davidson, Oklahoma County commissioner for District 3.

The board faces a Dec. 31 deadline to allocate $40 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. The board earmarked the money to build a mental health care facility at 1901 Grand Blvd., where the county also hopes to construct a new jail.

“We need it,” Davidson said. “We’re going to have to build it one way or the other; this would clearly save the taxpayers money.”

The project came to a halt earlier this year when the city denied a rezoning request to build on the proposed site. In response, the commissioners filed a lawsuit against the city. However, both sides have agreed to enter mediation to reach a resolution.

District 2 Commission Brian Maughan said he is willing to go into mediation as a last-ditch effort to save the mental health facility.

“I see this as the only option with the pending New Year’s Eve deadline,” Maughan said during the board’s meeting on Friday.

Several people, including Del City Mayor Floyd Eason, spoke during the public comment period, requesting that the ARPA funds be directed to the community instead.

“If the commissioners would release the money, we could use it for school programs, infrastructure projects,” Eason said. “I say distribute the money to the community, where it can be put to good use and not wasted on the building that the county doesn’t have the money to run anyway.”

Mark Faulk, an advocate with the People’s Council for Justice Reform, added, “The ARPA funds should have been distributed to the municipalities or the communities or it should have been spread out so that you could build mental health facilities individually in the community.”

Davidson said that if a resolution is not reached, the commissioners will allocate the funds to other projects but emphasized that he is not giving up on the mental health facility.

“We're going to have MOUs in place ready to go to get those ARPA dollars out to the nonprofit world and the cities and they can actually use that money,” Davidson said. “I'm extremely hopeful that when we enter that we're gonna come out with an agreement.”

Following a lengthy executive session, the board unveiled several terms for mediation with the city:

Board of County Commissioners’ Terms:

1. The county will not enter mediation unless it pertains to the current site at 1901 Grand Blvd. No other site will be considered.
2. Mediation is contingent on the city coming to the table with full settlement authority, so any agreement reached that day will be binding upon signature.
3. The county wants the city to adopt its special permit as recommended by the planning commission, to the extent allowed by law.
4. The county is also requesting that the city pay its litigation fees.

During Friday’s meeting, the board voted to give Davidson full settlement authority for the county.

Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt issued a statement about the impending mediation:

“A mediation has been scheduled for next week, and the Council will have elected representation present,” Holt said. “The Council looks forward to the conversation and is very hopeful it will be productive.”

Both sides are scheduled to meet in mediation on Dec. 23.