City, County Leaders Resume Jail Contract Negotiations

The City of Tulsa and the County are at a standstill over the jail contract. It expired November 1st, and city and county leaders are debating who needs to pay for what.

The Tulsa County jail gave us an exclusive look behind the scenes of how they deal with city inmates and why they say they need more money.

City leaders met Thursday with city council to discuss the issue of the ongoing negotiations.

10/16/2014 Related Story: Tulsa City, County Leaders At Odds Over Jail Budget

In order to explain what the city wants, what the county wants and why there still isn't a resolution, Captain Billy McKelvey with the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office gave News On 6 an inside look at jail operations.

"We bring up to 200 to 230 inmates out of the jail to courts, so the courts and court holdings is just an extension of the jail process," McKelvey said.

The holding, transporting and handling of city inmates, especially for court appearances, is a daily process the jail said is costly and needs the city to pay more money to help offset expenses.

The city's contract that ended November 1st was for $600,000 - roughly $45 per inmate a day. Now the Jail Authority says it needs $118 per city inmate booked into the jail and then $52 a day to house those inmates.

10/31/2014 Related Story: No Deal Between City And Tulsa County Over Jail Fees, Negotiations Continue

City leaders like City Attorney, David O'Meilia, say they're not buying it.

“What our negotiations have focused on is how much that appropriate cost should be," he said.

They are looking into an appropriate cost and delving into the jail's spending habits. It's an approach some say looks like the city and the county going head to head.

"The negotiations are not fighting, absolutely, the negotiations are sensitive, each party has its own position," O'Meilia said.

The positions have been in disagreement for an indefinite amount of time, which leaves the question of who picks up the tab, up in the air.

The negotiations were supposed to resume three days ago, but a disagreement over guarding a murder suspect at a local hospital interrupted those.

That issue has since been resolved.

The city said it's hoping to come to an agreement after a jail audit is done to find out where money is needed and where current funds are going.