New CJAC annual report notes major progress made in criminal justice reforms

Through a concerted effort of the Jail Trust to fix damaged cells, the Trust has accomplished one of their fiscal year 2022 goals of total eliminating triple-celling, as shown in the above photo.

The Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Advisory Council (CJAC) recently released its annual report for fiscal year 2021-22 which indicated major progress was made countywide in the area of criminal justice reforms. Created in 2017 as a result of a recommendation from the Vera Institute of Justice’s report to the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber Criminal Justice Reform Task Force, CJAC works to ensure accountability and transparency in the county justice system.

CJAC Executive Director Timothy Tardibono has been in that role from the outset, keeping CJAC focused on ensuring those intended reform efforts are met. He describes Oklahoma County’s criminal justice reforms in FY22 as “monumental,” noting major accomplishments and successes on several fronts. Arguably, the biggest accomplishment was voter approval of a $260 million bond issue that will be used to build a new Oklahoma County Detention Center, as well as the progress made in mental health and substance abuse reform efforts.

“The focus from the beginning was more mental health and substance abuse resources, and only jailing serious, violent criminals. Do we do that perfectly? No, but the mindset is moving in the right direction. So I think what this year’s annual report shows is that we are turned in the right direction with a common purpose. The hard part is continuing to keep everyone going together in that direction,” Tardibono said.

A major issue the detention center faced for many years was overcrowding. That, in and of itself, created other secondary problems that plagued the jail for decades, including health and safety concerns for detainees and staff. It also led to triple-celling, meaning three people were placed in a cell that held two people, but was originally built for just one person. This scenario forced the extra person to sleep on a mat on the floor or in a plastic “boat.” But now, through a concerted effort of the Jail Trust to fix cells that were damaged so badly to be uninhabitable, the Trust has accomplished their FY22 goal of total elimination of triple-celling. In addition to the Trust’s work to fix damaged cells, there has been a concerted effort among various community program partners to make needed reforms resulting in a continued decline in its total population, dropping from 2,468 in 2015 to 1,653 at the end of FY22.

The report pointed out that the decline in the detainee population has resulted in fewer people from the detention center ending up in prison in the Department of Corrections. In fact, the report showed that the number of people from Oklahoma County who ended their court process with a prison sentence to DOC dropped by 949 people or 39% since fiscal year 2018. Tardibono credits the expansion of diversion programs in the county as the primary factor for those population declines.

“Those numbers align with the reduction because more people are going to drug court, to ReMerge, to Community Sentencing, and other diversion programs, which means the vast majority of these people are not going to prison. They know these diversion programs are their final chance of staying out of prison. Fail the program, you go to prison,” he said.

Several MAPS 4 projects designed to have a positive impact on the county’s justice system progressed in FY22 by either going out to bid or just moving closer to launching, according to the report. Out of the two mental health crisis centers to be built as part of MAPS 4 at a cost of $12 million, one went out for bids in FY22 and an operator of the facility should be selected this fall. In addition, the $22 million Restoration Center project also went out for bids. The center will focus on the overlap of people with both mental health and substance abuse addiction needs, including emergency detox services.

“From the beginning, CJAC advocated for the mental health centers because we knew we needed more mental health resources. We are now getting to the point where there is enough sales tax in for those projects that they’ve done RFPs for the bidders, and some now have operators in place,” Tardibono said, adding that he expects by the end of 2024 and into early 2025, some of the projects will be opening.

Other detention center accomplishments and major improvements made in FY22, according to the report, included:

• Gaining “green tag” status for the emergency fire system, meaning the fire system is in full compliance with National Fire Protection Association standards.
• Continued installation of new cell door locks, including remote opening capability.
• Installation of a new full-body scanner to help reduce contraband coming into the jail.
• Creating a fast-track booking process for Oklahoma County residents.
• Launching a new nine-member Citizen’s Advisory Board to provide more citizen oversight to the jail.

To view the entire FY 2021-2022 Annual Report, visit the CJAC website at okcountycjac.com.

This story originally appeared in the November 2022 edition of the VeloCity newsletter.