TIME FOR LEGISLATURE TO STEP IN AND FIX PROBLEM WITH JAILS

The problem with the county jails in Oklahoma has been allowed to
deteriorate to the point where the state must adopt the problem as its own.
While there are exceptions, most problems at county jails can be attributed
to two factors: growing inmate populations, largely due to the war on
drugs; and county budgets increasingly called upon to fund other areas.

It is state and federal laws -- not county laws -- that put the inmates in
those jails. The state also adds to the problem by housing people in county
jails when its prisons are full.

Jail inmates must have housing that meets certain standards. The majority
of county jails in Oklahoma are not meeting those standards.

It is beyond time for the Legislature to get involved.

First it must allow counties to form partnerships and construct regional
facilities when economically prudent.

Second, it must fund improvements at current facilities until a long-term
solution can be developed.

If these jails are not improved, the state will eventually be forced to
pay-- through lawsuits.

It would be better -- and cheaper -- to do the right thing first.

- -- The Stillwater NewsPress