Tulsa County And City Agree Jail Terms
Taxpayers now know terms of the new jail contract between the city of Tulsa OK and the county.
The city will pay $45 to house prisoners facing municipal only charges. That rate applies for the first 35 inmates. After that, it goes up to $54.13 per inmate. Both sides came to an agreement Monday night and released details of the contract Tuesday. They had been operating without a contract since December 2008.
This agreement means both sides avoid heading to trial. Reaching a new contract over jail fees became such a contentious issue that the city sued the county last December. The county wanted the city to pay $54.13 for inmates facing both municipal and state charges. “That’s not the way other cities have worked, and that’s not the way our contract had worked in the past,” said Mayor Kathy Taylor. “That would have increased our cost dramatically, ten or twelve fold.” It took more than a year for both sides to agree on who qualifies as a municipal prisoner. “In the end we ended up compromising on that issue,” said county commission chair John Smaligo. “The city got the definition they wanted. From our side, we ended up getting what we felt was a fair rate.”
To save money, the city will not jail suspects arrested for non-violent offenses. “We’re looking at a good business model that prioritizes public safety but doesn’t unnecessarily place people in David L. Moss and put a strain on the Sheriff’s system,” said Taylor.
This jail agreement lasts five years.
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