Criminal justice advocate appointed to fill vacant county jail trust seat
Oklahoma County added a local criminal justice expert to be the newest member of the county jail trust.
James Johnson Jr., a criminal justice/social work professor at Rose State College, worked with young people for 40 years in Oklahoma's criminal justice and Department of Human Services systems. His career began in 1980 when he started as a social worker at the Lawton Boys Group Home, which he later directed.
From there, Johnson worked as a division supervisor for the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs, then as the superintendent at the Central Oklahoma Juvenile Center in Tecumseh.
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He also has directed school-based and residential services for CommunityWorks and worked as a career counselor at the Guthrie Job Corps Center.
Johnson has been a professor at Rose State since 2019, and also has taught at Cameron University, the University of Oklahoma, St. Gregory's University and Southwestern Oklahoma State University.
Johnson said juvenile and adult offenders are people who often have lost their way because of issues involving substance abuse, peer pressures, gaps in their educations or a lack of familial support.
Oklahoma does a good job of handling its juvenile offenders because it prioritizes addressing those issues using treatment-based programs instead of just locking them up to do time. The same concepts should be employed when it comes to adult offenders, he said.
"We are trying to break a vicious cycle where people go from the child welfare to the juvenile to the adult systems," said Johnson.
As for Oklahoma County and its jail, Johnson said he has been following its issues through reports over the past several years that have described how its overcrowding and staffing issues have led to numerous deaths inside of the facility.
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Before agreeing to join the trust, Johnson met with jail CEO Brandi Garner, Chairman Joe Allbaugh and other key individuals to learn more about the trust, its responsibilities and the jail's operations, he said.
Johnson said he looks forward to volunteering his time to help support the county's efforts to improve its jail operations while it works its way through the process of building something new.
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"Its a different dynamic dealing with adults, but giving detainees hope and supporting the staff are universal, regardless. I will think outside the box," he said.
Commissioners approved Johnson's appointment to the authority unanimously. He was nominated by Commissioner Carrie Blumert to fill former trustee M.T. Berry's seat. Berry resigned after completing his term on the board.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Criminal justice expert joins Oklahoma County jail trust
