OK Co. Jail Trustee demands apology for jail's 'catastrophic blunder'

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - Back in June, you may remember the Oklahoma County Jail sounded the alarm, saying they would be broke at the end of July without emergency support with a $5.8 million budget gap. Well, that turned out not to be true, and one trustee demanded an apology for it this week.

"This is absolutely ridiculous that we allowed this to go out. It makes us look like buffoons, idiots,” jail trustee Rev. Derrick Scobey said in a July 14 meeting. “Again, I'm not saying you. All of us."

Scobey was less than pleased with what he called a “catastrophic blunder” from the jail. Interim jail CEO Paul Timmons explained that a nearly half-million-dollar monthly budget shortfall and the county’s $33 million allocated to the jail for the 25-’26 fiscal year falling short of their $44 million in expenses would be the cause.

"Staffing is dismal, staff is overworked and exhausted,” Timmons told trustees at the meeting. “The budget has been flat for the last 3 years, despite rising inflation. We've lost 15 percent of our purchasing power, equivalent to $6 million."

No officials disagreed with him. However, Scobey said it was portrayed as a current crisis. The trustees clarified that they do expect a $486,000 monthly shortfall that, if unaddressed, could lead to the budget gap next year.

"Do we not understand that there are some senior citizens in this county, there are some younger people who don't quite have a really good grasp on how things work and they look at something like this and think 'Oh my God, everybody's going to be released from the Oklahoma County Detention Center,’” Scobey said.

Scobey said the jail won’t be broke at the end of July. He demanded an apology during the meeting, but when no one would give one, he did so himself.

"It undermines our credibility when we do try to get some more money from somewhere when we put out reports like this, that were not well thought through,” he said.

Vice Chairman Steven Buck eventually joined in on his apology after clarifying the situation and hearing Scobey’s issue. That issue, Scobey said, is with the jail’s original statement, making it sound like the jail would be out of money at the end of this July, which he said is a lie. Scobey did make it clear, however, that he believes more money is needed to run the jail.