NEW JAILS KEEP INSPECTOR BUSY

Oklahoma Jail Inspector Don Garrison relaxed recently in his state Health
Department office, which fittingly is under construction. Garrison hasn't
relaxed at work in five years. He's been too busy needling, prodding and
hounding county officials across Oklahoma into raising their antiquated and
often overcrowded jails to state standards.

The result has been a whirlwind of construction and remodeling statewide
that has been unparalleled in Oklahoma history. Not even the Land Run of
1889 prompted this kind of jail boom.

By next September, residents in 22 of Oklahoma's 77 counties will have
witnessed the openings of new jails since 1996. Six additional counties are
planning for new jails, while officials in two others will ask taxpayers
this November for money to build modern lockups.

"I don't have anything pressing," said Garrison, flashing a smile. "It's
the first time that I have just not really been after someone to do
something better."

Problems found The landscape was drastically different when Garrison joined
the Health Department staff in January 1997.

"I was told when I arrived that there were 25 or 30 jails that needed to be
replaced," Garrison said. "But that didn't mean anything to me at the time.
I had never even been in a county jail prior to that time. I didn't know
what to expect. I was appalled by what I saw."

Garrison's first reports came from Delaware County, where inspectors found
prisoners housed in a damp basement that routinely flooded. They had no
ventilation, and mold was growing on cell walls. Many of the prisoners also
complained of bites from an unknown predator.

The predators proved to be midges, a gnat that thrives in damp environments.

Within a few months, county taxpayers passed a half-cent sales tax to fund
a $3.9 million jail and courthouse expansion and renovation. Jailers moved
into the new facility in January of 2001.

The pressure has been on ever since that first inspection five years ago.

Last year, state inspectors cited 49 county jails for serious deficiencies
ranging from overcrowding to poor health care. For anyone counting, and
Garrison is, that's 64 percent of the state's county jails.

Along the way, Garrison searched for more legal bite, realizing the best he
could do in even the most severe cases was issue a petition of closure for
the state attorney general to ponder. He found that bite last year, when
staff attorneys discovered a law that permitted the department to issue
fines. The statute allows for fines of up to $10,000 a day for
noncompliance with an order.

"After that," Garrison said, "we got some people to move."

State legislators are even starting to pay attention to the problems
associated with county jails, a subject he candidly suggests was a
political taboo only a few years ago.

"I received a bit of an education recently," said Sen. Cal Hobson,
D-Lexington. "I wasn't even aware of all the construction of new jails that
has been going on statewide."

Hobson recently helped organize meetings with sheriffs, county
commissioners and fellow legislators to explore a variety of issues ranging
from the concept of regional jails to the financial burdens of each county.
Findings from those meetings will be shared with Sen. Bruce Price,
D-Hinton, and his new interim study committee.

Work ahead The committee plans to delve into those subjects further in the
coming months.

"I wouldn't really say we have a specific agenda," Price said. "We'll be
open to a lot of subjects."

Those include alleviating the financial burdens of the state Corrections
Department. Over the last six years, the corrections budget and inmate
population have nearly doubled. Thanks to this, Price said his colleagues
will take a harder look at the expansion of community sentencing and drug
courts.

Sheriffs such as Stan Barnes in Jefferson County, however, fear that will
only place a greater burden on financially strapped rural counties. "If
they dump DOC prisoners on us, it will break some of the smaller counties,"
Barnes said. "If they do that, the state will have to find a way to help us
expand our jails because the $24-a-day they pay for DOC prisoners won't be
enough."

Counties like Mayes, Rogers and Tillman already are flirting with
overcrowding, and none has a jail older than three years. Of those, Tillman
County may be in the greatest mess.

Faced with state violations and a jail built in 1921, Tillman County
officials pressed forward with a $3.1 million jail project at no cost to
taxpayers. Officials financed the bulk of the project, $2.2 million,
through revenue bonds, which were to be paid from revenue made by housing
state prisoners.

But Sheriff Billy Hanes soon discovered a flaw with the plan that no one
foresaw. The prison population boomed, forcing Hanes to stand pat with a
Corrections Department contract for 25 prisoners and to even build an
additional 24-bed annex across the street from his new jail.

County commissioners, meanwhile, met Thursday to discuss the possibility of
asking taxpayers to approve a new half-cent sales tax for jail operations.

"I really hate to see that," Hanes said. "That kind of makes me out to
looking like some kind of liar because I promised the people we wouldn't
cost them any new taxes to build a new jail." Work continues Hanes' overall
conclusion: The statewide construction frenzy is a mirage.

"I think it's deceiving," he said. "I don't think it has fixed anything."

And still the construction boom rolls on.

Garfield and Le Flore counties, both on Garrison's hit list for jail
closures, will go to the polls in November to vote on new jails. Le Flore
County residents are being asked to support a three-quarter cent sales tax,
with a half-cent to be terminated after 20 years. A quarter-cent of the new
tax would remain on the books to finance jail operation.

In Garfield County, where Garrison has cited jailers for chaining inmates
to stairways for lack of space, taxpayers are being asked to pass a
quarter-cent sales tax for 15 years. If shot down, the county then will
face another problem, a federal class-action lawsuit by Enid attorney
Stephen Jones.

Jones represents four inmates who allege their constitutional rights have
been violated. The plaintiffs allege a lack of adequate security by jail
staff, improper segregation of prisoners, lack of due process and
disciplinary infractions.

Legislators such as Hobson and Price warn those counties and others not to
count on any financial assistance, either.

"We got our own problems as everyone can see," Hobson said.

Mayes County jail administrator Janelle Buckskin says she more than
understands.

"The state only has so much money," Buckskin said. "How are they going to
help all these counties? Besides, we'll all pay for it one way or another,
if not with local taxes, then state taxes."

In Okmulgee County, where officials created a new law enforcement agency to
oversee its new $7.1 million, 154-bed jail, the jail craze is viewed in
another light.

"I look at it this way," said Sam McCoy, a department operations manager
for the Okmulgee County Criminal Justice Authority. "I'd hate to see where
we'd be without all these new jails."

So would Garrison.