OK County Looks To Trust For Funding
Putting the finances of the Oklahoma County jail in the hands of a trust should make funding increases more acceptable to voters, County Commissioner Ray Vaughn said last week, according to NewsOK.
A tax proposal likely will be needed to fund improvements at the jail to ward off a federal takeover. In 2003, a two-fifths cent sales tax proposal by Sheriff John Whetsel was overwhelmingly defeated by 81 percent of voters. The tax was expected to raise $30 million a year … It costs more than $30 million annually to run the jail now, and it could cost $40 million or more to run it after the recommended changes are made, officials said…
One of the chief criticisms [about the previous tax proposal] was a lack of oversight of jail finances, county officials said. A trust, said Vaughn, “really enhances our ability to gain the support and the trust of the voters” … Vaughn said he expects county commissioners to establish a trust in the next 30 to 60 days. Members will then be appointed, and the trust will take over the jail’s finances beginning in July …
This isn’t the first time the idea of a jail trust has come up. Whetsel opposed past attempts to put a trust in control of the jail, believing state law puts that responsibility on the sheriff’s shoulders. But Whetsel has endorsed the concept this time because the proposal would leave him in charge of the jail’s management. He said he is willing to let a trust keep the jail’s books. “Currently, I’m asked to run a jail that I’m not given sufficient finances to run,” he said. “The change this will make is I’ll be asked to run a jail for which sufficient finances will be provided.”