Oklahoma County sheriff to step in to help jail 'fast track' some bookings

Not everyone who is charged with a crime in Oklahoma County is taken directly to the jail.

Some are charged during a court hearing and are able to secure a bond without being detained.

Those criminal defendants, however, still must be entered into Oklahoma's criminal justice system by providing authorities with fingerprints, mugshots and, in the case of felony charges, DNA samples.

In the past, those defendants were able to complete "fast-track" booking processes at the jail's location in under an hour, without actually having to be taken into the facility as a new detainee.

But Oklahoma County's jail, which continues to deal with low staffing levels, hasn't reliably been able to provide that service of late.

It also has difficulties in scheduling one-on-one interviews between detainees and their attorneys and in releasing detainees after they have posted bond, Oklahoma County's chief public defender said.

Jail officials say staffing issues are to blame.

As of November, the authority employed 258 people to run the jail, including about 20 who just completed a training academy days ago.

Staffing issues have been a running problem for the long-troubled jail, which has been cited for numerous health and safety violations by state and federal authorities over the past several years. More than 40 detainees have died at the jail since the trust took over in 2020.

How loss of fast-track bookings impact the jail

Brandi Garner, CEO of the jail, said her staff still processes non-arrested criminal defendants to obtain state-required information.

But before staffing levels became acute, those walk-through bookings were done in a separate space from where arrestees detained on criminal complaints are brought into the jail for processing.

Now, everyone must use the same entry point at the jail.

The jail holds arrestees in cells within its intake area until they can be screened for contraband before moving on to obtain physical and psychological screenings.

More: Grand jury says Oklahoma County jail should go back to sheriff. But he doesn't want it.

Anyone waiting for a walk-through booking, usually accompanied by a bond underwriter, must wait as well and must be screened for contraband as part of the process.

What used to take minutes now can take hours (and sometimes longer), an issue catching the attention of Oklahoma County District Court judges, bondsmen and others.

Sheriff's help requested to restore the service

Oklahoma County District Court Judge Cindy H. Truong appeared before members of the jail trust this week to ask Sheriff Tommie Johnson III to offer fast-track booking services for those who qualify.

Truong explained the service is important because it allows the jail's employees to focus primarily on processing already-arrested persons into and out of the jail.

"I wanted to ask the sheriff to step up until the jail has sufficient staff," said Truong, who suggested those could be done either at Oklahoma County's courthouse, where it once was done, or at the sheriff's building on NE 36.

"It is something that's really needed," said Truong, who stressed she was making her request as a private citizen. "The jail needs help."

Sheriff: Fast-track booking help is on the way

Oklahoma County's sheriff will begin providing the walk-through services soon, said Oklahoma County sheriff's Maj. Rickey Barrow.

Sheriff Johnson was able to obtain a $25,000 grant to acquire needed equipment deputies will use to obtain fingerprints, mugshots, criminal charges information and other data from those taking advantage of the service, Barrow said.

The sheriff's office is working with the software provider the jail uses to track detainees to make the two systems compatible, he said.

More: Sanitation issues, missed health checks ongoing at Oklahoma County jail, health department says

"We have just got to work all the kinks out of it to ensure we are doing it properly," Barrow said.

Once issues are resolved, the sheriff's office will open a small office on Tuesdays and Thursdays for a couple of hours each day near the east entry on the ground floor of the Oklahoma County Courthouse, 321 Park Ave., to provide no-cost walk-through booking services, he said.

Barrow said he gave Judge Truong a tour of the space after this week's authority meeting, and said the judge was pleased by what she was shown.

Sheriff Johnson recognizes the need, Barrow said. Even when the jail provides walk-through booking services, there can be delays, Barrow said he has been told.

"This is something the sheriff wanted to do," Barrow said. "If you end up being there a day or longer (to be processeed) after you have obtained a bond, that's a problem."

Public Defender: Release times from Oklahoma County's jail take too long for some

Judge Truong wasn't the only court official addressing the criminal justice authority on Monday.

Bob Ravitz, Oklahoma County's public defender, also appeared before the group to describe how it recently took the jail's staff five days to release one of his clients after that person made bond. He has complained about the issue before.

Ravitz also expressed concerns about how difficult it is for his attorneys to meet with their clients, saying the jail routinely deletes scheduling opportunities for those types of meetings because it does not have the needed staff to escort detainees from their cells to consultation rooms.

Staffing concerns at the jail remain a concern, agreed Ravitz, who has been the county's chief public defender since 1987.

"The county has to make a decision on how to spend their money. They need to raise salaries. I wouldn't want to be working inside of a place where I might be bringing bed bugs home with me daily. Obviously, if you can make more money working at Amazon or 7-11, that's where you are going to work," Ravitz said.

Jail CEO optimistic, despite current staffing levels

Garner, who was named CEO of the county's jail operations on May 1, said she and management continue to meet with staff to assess their strengths, weaknesses and willingness to embrace change.

As for the comments made by Ravitz and Judge Truong, Garner said she understands and shares their concerns.

"We don't want anyone inside of our facility any longer than they have to be," she said.

While the jail is at its lowest employment level so far since Garner became CEO, its current academy class of 20 new employees, 13 of whom are detention officers and seven others who are support officers, just finished four weeks of training and six weeks of evaluation that included on-the-job training involving multiple job positions. A new academy class, which potentially could include as many as 30 participants, is scheduled to start Nov. 27.

The trust hopes to hold an academy for both new employees and those who want to cross-train to be support officers quarterly using a curriculum developed by a training officer with military experience. The jail also has hired a new recruiting officer with years of talent acquisition experience.

The trust could employ 320 people to operate the jail, based on its budget.

"I believe that retention starts from day one, and really it happens before then as we vet those we want to hire," Garner said. "We just want to make sure people who are working here are here for the right reasons and want to work."

"Hopefully, we will get to that number of 320. I think that we will," Garner said.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Sheriff to help jail with 'fast-track' bookings for some defendants