Court to study inmate medical expenses

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – The Oklahoma Supreme Court has agreed to decide a legal dispute between Oklahoma County and the University of Oklahoma Medical Center over who should pay for emergency medical care for county jail inmates.

The Oklahoman reports the hospital is seeking roughly $3 million from the county to cover unpaid medicals bills. It’s the third time in the past 10 years that the hospital has asked the courts to help resolve a dispute with Oklahoma County. The county settled two prior lawsuits with OU Medical Center, in 2005 and 2010, for a combined $8 million.

An Oklahoma County district judge ruled in December that the sheriff’s office has a "constitutional duty" to provide medical care to inmates, but there is no duty to force it to pay for that care.