Oklahoma County seeks to settle battle over bond-financed jail site

Oklahoma County wants to settle litigation over the location for a bond-financed jail in the wake of an unofficial state attorney general’s office opinion that the county would likely prevail in court. 

County commissioners voted last week to pursue a possible settlement with Oklahoma City, which the county sued in June over the city’s denial of a special use permit for a site on the  outskirts of Oklahoma City where the jail would be built. 

The action came after the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office issued a “letter of counsel” on Thursday in response to an opinion request by a state lawmaker on whether the county has sovereignty over the city in the matter.

The letter, which acknowledged the poor conditions at the current county jail and voter approval in 2022 of $260 million of general obligation bonds to finance a new facility, said the project serves broader governmental interests.

“(The project) is so important that a court would likely grant immunity (from the city’s zoning regulations) to the county’s determination of the new county jail site despite substantial and even compelling local interests,” Deputy General Counsel Thomas Schneider wrote, citing his views and analysis of the controversy.

He added that the county does not have “carte blanche discretion to run roughshod in disregard of Oklahoma City’s valid and pressing concerns about the proposed jail site.” 

“Instead, Oklahoma County ought to consult with Oklahoma City, listen and study local objections, problems, and find suggestions in order to minimize the conflict,” the letter stated.

There was no immediate comment from the city. In September, an Oklahoma County District Court judge rejected the city’s motion to dismiss the case.

Since the county sold $45 million of the voter-approved debt in 2023, costs for a jail that would accommodate 2,400 inmates and include four courtrooms rose to an estimated $672 million, leading to the exploration of a public-private partnership to help fund the project.

Raymond James, Morgan Stanley, and Jefferies responded to a request for proposals, which listed two lease-purchase financing options — $450 million for the jail in its entirety or $41 million for the jail’s mechanical and electrical equipment. The terms called for an up to 30-year commitment and the issuance of tax-exempt and taxable fixed-rate bonds backed by the county’s annual appropriation of lease rental payments.

The county aims to replace its 13-story detention center in downtown Oklahoma City — which opened in 1991 and has been under state and federal scrutiny for health, safety, and other concerns — with a facility that would have room for medical and mental health treatment.