Justice Being Served At Tulsa State Fair

The Tulsa State Fair is a great place for kids to have fun but sometimes they also get into trouble, and if that happens, juveniles don't have to wait to see the judge.

The wheels of justice turn during the 11 Days of Awesome, and so far, deputies have already made at least six arrests for drug offenses and fighting.

Officials have a message to parents who drop off their kids at the fair: “Don't use the fair as a babysitter.”

Fun at the Tulsa State Fair is supposed to include rides, great food and games, but it can be a playground for crime; that's why Tulsa County Sheriffs deputies have a command post and a presence.

"We have had everything, but our most serious offense has been possession with intent to distribute by a child,” Captain Billy McKelvey said.

Rather than wait for police and a court date the Oklahoma Supreme Court has cut out the middle man. Judge Carl Funderburk comes out of retirement for 11 days a year to rule on juvenile offenses at the fairgrounds, and he didn't rule in favor of the accused young drug dealer.

“He saw the child here in court and decided the child needed to be taken into custody, so he put that child in the juvenile detention center. Most of the other stuff is minor fights and drinking by a juvenile,” McKelvey said.

Justice is served from a desk and the holding area, with leather couches, may not be a jail cell but deputies mean business, and if things get out of hand, kids can be handcuffed to a table.

Before any of that happens, officials have a plea to parents. Keep your kids close.

"Parents are using the fair as a babysitter if you will; and they drive up, dump their kids off and they come in here and they do their mischief,” said McKelvey.

When they do, parents will be called and guardians don't get off scot-free.

"When the parents do drop off their kids as a babysitter it becomes a problem because we have to call the parents, then we have to fight the traffic to come back up here and pick up your child, it becomes a logistical nightmare to get parents in front of a judge to sign certain documents,” McKelvey said.

The captain said the solution is to attend the fair with your children.

Word of the makeshift courtroom has helped reduce the number of problems with juveniles at the fair from hundreds four years ago, to dozens over the two week period.