By Traci Chapman
Published on July 24, 2008

Sheriff Lewis Hawkins has put a “no vacancy” sign on the Canadian County Jail, refusing to renew annual contracts with county cities that allow for housing of municipal prisoners.

Hawkins said he was forced to take the action after a May 13 bond proposal for a $24.8 million facility failed, and a May 14 jail inspection report cited the facility for overcrowding, as well as electrical and water problems.

“When you haven’t got any space, you can’t re-new contracts bringing in more prisoners,” Hawkins said Tuesday.

The bottom line for cities throughout the county is that they must hold prisoners arrested on municipal charges until the district attorney has filed state charges, Hawkins said.

Yukon Police Chief Gary Wieczorek said the problem with this arrangement is the lapse in time between an arrest and when a warrant is filed.

“We might have someone we’ve arrested in the evening or over the weekend, and the DA’s office is closed, so we can’t get an arrest warrant until they are open,” he said. “That’s not so bad for us because we do have facilities to hold prisoners, but not every city has that luxury.”

One of those cities without holding cells is Piedmont. Police Chief Jerry Koester said departments throughout the county met with District Attorney Cathy Stocker earlier this month, and while he feels “reassured” Stocker and her staff will do their best to expedite the filing process, the city has a problem with any delay.

“We have no cells — the extent of our prisoner holding capability is a chair bolted to the floor with attached handcuffs — so we have a problem if we arrest more than one person or something critical happens,” he said. “While I appreciate the sheriff’s position, cities like Piedmont and Union City have no local jail.”

Koester said Union City Police Chief Eddie Dickerson told county officials at the meeting his city has been taking prisoners to Grady County.

“I understand why, but with fuel at the price it is, that’s got to be costing them some money,” Koester said.

Dickerson confirmed he has been sending prisoners to Grady County, and it is taking a toll on his department.

“The fuel prices are also hurting us, and the staff time it takes to send the prisoners there isn't helping either,” he said. “We’re a small department, and this is impacting us.”

El Reno Police Chief Ken Brown said his department currently has no contract with the Sheriff’s Office. He said municipal police departments within the county have formed an alliance to address the situation.

“We are still arresting and booking the same amount of people,” Brown said. “We have come to an agreement with Yukon and Mustang that if any of the three of us need help we will help. The main thing is all of the law enforcement agencies are working together to the best of our ability.”

Brown said he would like to see the El Reno jail expanded with funds coming from the Public Safety tax approved in January. He said the jail currently can hold eight people.

Mustang has not felt a pinch due to the new county rules, Capt. Willard James said.
“We’re lucky because we have the space to house people until the charges are filed by the district attorney’s office,” he said. “It’s obviously not an optimal situation, though, and we appreciate the district attorney working to clear these as quickly as possible.”

Because of the jail’s space limitations and in light of the jail inspector’s citation, Hawkins said his options are limited.

“At this point, we have to revert to state law, which requires the filing of state — not municipal — charges for me to accept prisoners,” he said. “Once those are filed, I’m required to accept that prisoner. Also, anyone who is arrested on a state warrant will be accepted right away.”

The overcrowding problem has extended beyond the county’s contract renewals. In a June 10 e-mail circulated to county jail employees, deputies were instructed not to make arrests on “bogus check (felony or misdemeanor), driving under the influence, possession of a controlled dangerous substance-marijuana, petit larceny, theft or any non-serious misdemeanor charge.”

Employees were also advised in the June 10 e-mail that “effective immediately,” jail staff would only “confirm warrants on day shift Monday through Friday while we can check with the court clerk’s office or district attorney’s office to make sure the warrant is good.”

Hawkins said he does not like placing restrictions on arrests or holding up the renewal of contracts that benefit cities, but he had no choice but to make some “hard decisions” about the prisoners entering the county facility.

“As I said, when there’s no room, there’s not a whole lot we can do,” he said. “The alternative is that they (jail inspectors) will come in and shut us down. Then we’ll have no prisoners, and the county will end up paying for us to house our prisoners somewhere else. That’s the reality we’re looking at.”