Oklahoma County offers $2.5 million for land near Will Rogers World Airport for new jail

Oklahoma County's Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to offer to buy about 51 acres of land near Will Rogers World Airport where it wants to build a county jail for $2.5 million.

The land the county seeks to buy partly makes up a larger 192-acre piece of land Oklahoma City offered as a potential home for the jail, board Chairman Brian Maughan confirmed.

The property the city offered is bordered by MacArthur Boulevard on the west, Newcastle Road on the north, SW 54 on the south and a creek bed that runs through the middle of a larger, triangle-shape piece of land.

The airport's car rental center, which fronts Meridian Avenue, is located on the other side of the creek bed.

Commissioner Carrie Blumert's motion to buy 50-acre piece of land includes about 30 acres located at the southeast corner of the intersection of Newcastle Road and MacArthur, within what the city offered.

The motion also declares the county's intent to buy additional land the airport owns on the adjacent corner on MacArthur's other side.

What needs to be done before the Oklahoma County jail can be built

Neither of those pieces of land have ties to federal funding that would require any type of environmental study, county officials say.

It also would have to be rezoned by Oklahoma City to permit construction of a jail on the property, Blumert's motion stated.

Oklahoma County on Oct. 2 chose the 192 acre site as its preferred location for a replacement for its long-troubled jail.

But Oklahoma City's airports director expressed apprehension about the county's choice, despite offering both it and a second location near Will Rogers World Airport as potential spots where a jail might be built.

Airports Director Jeff Mulder also said the city's airports board was not interested in selling the county any land, but could lease it "at a market rate."

Maughan said Wednesday, however, that he and his colleagues are being told by attorneys working for District Attorney Vicki Behenna that Oklahoma County can't legally build a jail on land it does not own.

"While I understand the airport authority wanted to offer the property through a lease agreement, that won't work," Maughan said. "We are expressing our interest in actually purchasing the property, and we are hopeful the city will sell it to us."

The county is growing short on time, both to use federal dollars to build a mental health behavioral unit as part of a new detention center and county bond funds to build the jail itself, Maughan said.

Securing a piece of land matters, because its layout likely would impact how the jail is designed.

"We can't actually finalize designs for the jail until we have the land purchased. That's another reason we need to get on with this," Maughan said.

New county jail a recommended solution to troubled current jail

The Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Advisory Council recommended the county build a new jail in November 2021.

The trust currently operating the jail and sheriffs have dealt with housing and public safety issues involving its staff and detainees since the current jail near downtown opened in 1991, including a July health inspection that found bedbugs again and more failures to check on inmates regularly.

A state multicounty grand jury in March called for control of the jail to be returned to the sheriff because of a high number of detainee deaths that happened since the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority began operating it in July 2020.

The jail has had seven inmate deaths so far this year. The last one was in late September.

Oklahoma County voters authorized the sale of $260 million in bonds to build the new jail/mental health center in June 2022. Ballot language called for the county to spend 85% of funds raised through a given bond sale connected to the project within three years of when that occurred, and the remaining funds within five years.

Oklahoma County so far has sold about $45 million in bond funds, with proceeds from the first sale used to hire project designer HOK, to conduct preliminary design work and to develop a proposal seeking to hire a contractor to build the new jail.

County commissioners also have set aside $40 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds toward building a mental health facility as part of the new jail. Some of those dollars must be spent before the end of 2024, while the remainder must be spent by the end of 2026.

Wednesday's action seeks to accelerate serious talks between the city and county about the site's suitability as the jail's future home, Maughan said after the vote.

Oklahoma County's offer will be delivered to city officials as soon as possible, he said.

"Somebody has to take the first step, and so we did that today to hopefully advance this process in a timely fashion," he said.

Stacey D. Hamm, Will Rogers World Airport's public information officer and marketing manager, declined to comment about the county's offer on Wednesday.

The next meeting scheduled for the Oklahoma City Airport Trust, which typically considers agreements involving airport lands, is at 9 a.m. on Oct. 26.

"The Airport Trust has not received a formal offer from the county yet," Mulder said late Wednesday. "The next step is to review the details of the proposal."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma County offers $2.5 million for land for new jail