Oklahoma County Reconsiders Jail Location Despite Previous Approval: New Options in Play

Oklahoma County Jail

OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — Oklahoma County Commissioners are still working on finding a site for the new Oklahoma County Jail, despite approving a location last month.

County officials have been working on finding a location for the new Oklahoma County Jail for months now, in October they approved a 192-acre site near Will Rogers World Airport, but now they’re considering new options.

Oklahoma County Voters approved a new jail back in June of 2022, and since then the big question has been, where will the new jail be located?

“It’s one of those things that not everybody wants in their backyard,” said Oklahoma County Commissioner for District 3, Myles Davidson, “We’re considering all things, so we have to be responsible to the taxpayers and we have to make sure that we’re examining and looking for the best spot.”

So far several locations have been considered, and a site off SW44th & New Castle Road was approved by commissioners in October, despite opposition from some who say transportation to that location would be an issue,

“A scathing list of things that could go wrong if it was out by the airport,” said Vice Mayor of The Village, Sean Cummings, “We can say we’re gonna run a bus system out there once we find out how much that costs and try to do it every day, every hour on the hour, it’s unaffordable, and since they let so many people out throughout the night, the bus doesn’t run. So it’s just not practical.”

The location is not set in stone, as commissioners wait for approval from the nearby Will Rogers Airport, and while they wait they say they are considering other options,

“Everything’s being considered, we just, as things go on, we want to make sure that we’re looking at every option available,” Davidson said.

This includes a new option that was discussed in the executive session during Wednesday’s meeting, but Commissioners say they cannot yet speak on it,

“I can’t because it was discussed in Executive Session, I’d love to… because I think it’s very exciting for us and I think it’s exciting for the city,” said Davidson.

Commissioners say they hope to have the new jail built by 2026.