TCSO To Get Keys For Expanded Area Of Jail

The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office will get the keys to the expanded area of the Tulsa County jail next week.

The expansion will allow the sheriff's office to better help the mentally ill.

4/20/2015 Related Story: Tulsa Jail Expansion Aimed At Helping Mentally Ill Inmates

The jail has 32,000 inmates come and go each year, and one-third are on medication for mental illness. The expansion will create a ward just for diagnosis and treatment, speeding up the process for the courts - and decreasing the time mental patients stay behind bars.

It will take until at least April to get it ready for inmates.

Voters originally approved a sales tax extension to pay for an expansion but the project has been over budget. Much of the overrun is blamed on an unrealistically low estimate for the project before it went to bids.

To cover the costs, the sheriff’s office used $1.2 million in cash reserves to pay some of the construction costs; the Tulsa County Budget Board also made cuts from other departments and diverted it to the jail.

5/16/2016 Related Story: Tulsa County Diverts Funds To Finish Over-Budget Jail Expansion

When completed, the expansion will create room for 200 inmates