Court battle is a possibility over new jail location

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Could Oklahoma County Commissioners and City Council be heading for a battle in court over the location of the new county jail?

One county commissioner believes it is a growing possibility. This comes after the city council voted "no" on the proposed site Tuesday.

District 2 County Commissioner Brian Maughan says a solution is not looking good as they have exhausted their options on a location, and have been transparent with the city about it.

This is all while time is running out on the funds being used toward a new jail, saying a battle in court would not make things any better.

After a huge blow on the plans to build the new county jail at East Grand and Southeast 15th Street, county commissioners are looking at what they can do now.

"I expect that on Wednesday when we meet a week from today, we'll be briefed by the legal counsel as to what our options might be," Maughan said.

Those options include sovereignty, and even a legal case against the city.

"What's clear to me after yesterday's city council meeting is that we're going to need to have this issue about sovereignty addressed one way or the other, regardless of where we go," Maughan said.

"So, this behind the eight ball position that we find ourselves in now, is squarely on the city council's shoulders because they put us in this situation," Maughan said. "I think there's a number of other locations we would have considered first if we were in fact given sovereignty consideration."

Maughan says they have done everything the city has asked of them to try and make this work.

"We tried to be a good neighbor, we worked through their process, which is pretty lengthy, and we were patient with them," Maughan said. "We were open minded. We gave lots of opportunity for input from them to give us suggestions. I don't know when we look back, what else we really could have done in terms of team spirit and cooperation."

Maughan says they don't want to take legal action against the city, but will if they have to.

"Let me be clear, I don't want to fight with the city, and that's why we've gone through all these painstaking efforts to avoid that," Maughan said. "However, if you force us into the corner where we have no choice, I'm not sure we have an option."

If this ends up going to court, the county will also have time against them.

"Any of this litigation ties set up and costs us not only the ARPA funds, but right behind it is the bond timeline," Maughan said. "85% has to be spent within the first three years of issuance and the final 15% has to be spent in the following two years. Well, next month will be 18 months since we first issue that."

We reached out to the district attorney's office about who has sovereignty between the two in this matter. They responded with the statement below:

"The question of whether the County has sovereignty over the city is complex and one that will ultimately be determined by the courts. There is an Oklahoma Supreme Court decision (Independent School District No. 89 v. City of Oklahoma City, 722 P.2d 1212) that states if there is not a specific statute that says a county is not subject to city ordinances, then it is up to the court to decide. If litigation is pursued, the court will weigh a number of factors, as outlined in the Oklahoma Supreme Court decision, to determine if the interests of the county outweigh the zoning interests of the city."