Oklahoma County jail faces $5.8M shortfall, trust members dispute budget warning

During its meeting on Monday, the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority continued discussions over the Oklahoma County Detention Center's budget for the new fiscal year.

More than two weeks ago, jail leadership first announced it was facing a $5.8 million budget shortfall. According to the June 27 release sent on behalf of the jail, "without new funding or emergency support, the Authority projects available operating funds will be depleted following July 31, 2025."

However, members of the Authority believe that characterization was misleading.

The jail operates on a monthly budget and will continue to receive allocations of its budget throughout the year, meaning its shortfall registers as a monthly deficit, to the tune of nearly $450,000.

"We've all come to find out, because we say we trust Butch Freeman's mind than we do most of ours, and I do, and he called it 'bullwinkle,'" said trustee Rev. Derrick Scobey. "And we're just sitting here like it didn't happen."

Authority chair Steven Buck acknowledged Scobey's frustrations about the way the budget issues were communicated.

Scobey also reignited a conversation he previously addressed about dissolving the jail trust.

"In order to dissolve the Oklahoma County Jail Trust, a motion has to be made, it has to be seconded, and then every jail trust member must vote 'yes' to dissolve? And then it goes up to the Oklahoma County Commissioners, and it has to be a majority vote? Is that correct?" Scobey asked Chair Steven Buck.

"Yes, that is congruent with my understanding," Buck responded.

"So, we have no way to dissolve this jail trust, at all, unless every single person agrees with that, and even the ones that are not present?" Scobey asked again.

"It is my understanding, and I would yield to counsel for a correction of me if I misstate this," Buck answered.

Ultimately, no motion was made to dissolve the jail trust.

For his part, interim jail CEO Paul Timmons offered an apology during an interview after the meeting.

"It could have been crafted better than what it was," he said. "So, I'll take the hit for that when it was released. It's a conversation that needed to be had."