Jail bond oversight committee created; members to be selected soon

The Board of County Commissioners of Oklahoma County (BOCC) recently passed a resolution establishing a jail bond oversight committee that will “act in an advisory role to assist the BOCC with regards to best practices, professional expertise, and wise and efficient use of bond sale proceeds in all aspects of the projects for the construction of a new [Oklahoma County Detention Center], including site selection, facility design, and public transparency and accountability.”

“...a workhorse committee, not a show horse committee.”

Timothy Tardibono, executive director for the county’s Criminal Justice Advisory Council, which was formed in 2017 as a result of a recommendation from the Vera Institute Report to the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber Criminal Justice Reform Task Force to ensure accountability and transparency in the county justice system, said now that the county commissioners have created the citizen-led bond oversight committee, the next step is to fill the seven spots on the committee. That task must be completed by Dec. 5.

“Interestingly enough, we borrowed some of the language from the MAPS 4 Citizens Advisory Board language. They will advise the Board of County Commissioners on the wise and efficient use of bond sale proceeds for the construction of the new jail, including site selection, site design, public transparency and accountability,” Tardibono said.

“The citizen’s bond oversight committee is going to be a workhorse committee, not a show horse committee. Serving on the committee will require some homework from its members and the ability to make important decisions,” he said.

Each county commissioner will next appoint one member to the board; the other four will serve as at-large members. Each member of the oversight committee will then serve three-year terms and will be eligible for reappointment once their respective terms expire.

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