Business owners fear proposed Oklahoma County jail move will destroy their livelihoods • Oklahoma Voice

DEL CITY — Del City business owners worry that a new county jail, which is earmarked to open within a few miles of them, will negatively impact their livelihoods if a court ultimately allows it to move forward.

The business owners said they don’t want Oklahoma County commissioners to build the new Oklahoma County Jail at the proposed site located at 1901 E. Grand Bvld. While the facility is technically slated to be built within Oklahoma City limits, the proposed site is a stone’s throw from the Del City line.

Thomas Curtis, owner of New World Games & Comics, located slightly over a mile from the proposed jail site, said Del City already operates a municipal jail nearby. Business owners don’t want or need a second correctional facility, he said.

Curtis said people released from Del City’s municipal jail with no homes to return to end up on the streets around his business. He said he fears those numbers would grow if Oklahoma County commissioners construct a much larger correctional facility that could potentially have as many as 1,800 beds.

Plans to build the jail are on hold after the Oklahoma City Council blocked the county’s request to rezone the area. But county leaders have sued, claiming that they have sovereign rights over the proposed site, which gives them the power to create their own regulations regardless of the wishes of city leaders. 

Sara Bana, Oklahoma City Ward 5 councilmember, said she’s heard from business owners concerned about the increase in foot traffic from individuals being released if the jail is built. 

She said one business owner told her that he has been a resident of Del City for 45 years. Bana said he told her that he would have to sell everything, including his family home, and move if the jail is ultimately built.

She also said that business owners fear that residents with the wherewithal will also move if the jail is built, negatively impacting Del City’s local economy.

County Commissioner Myles Davidson, who supports building the jail near Del City, said it would improve the area. He expects an increase in commerce for current businesses from judges, lawyers, and police visiting the area. He also said it will provide new employment opportunities for the residents. 

Davidson said commissioners selected the area, which is about 60 acres, because it fits the criteria they had put together for a new site. He said the land previously held a housing project before it was demolished in the mid-2000s, so sewer, water and various other amenities are available. 

He said he is aware of the residents’ concerns about children potentially coming into contact with recently released inmates. But he said commissioners plan to implement services during the release process that include access to rehabilitation and reentry programs as well as homeless coordinators for indigent defendants. He said public transit agency EMBARK will have four bus stops outside the jail with buses coming and going at all hours to deter those worries and those of increased foot traffic.

But Rep. Andy Fugate, D-Oklahoma City, whose district includes Del City, said there is a golf course near the proposed site, along with wooded areas and residential neighborhoods where children live.

 “You want to have a safe community for kids to come out and play,” Fugate said.

He said that Del City business owners are in lockstep with him and share the view that the jail will lead to an economic collapse for the surrounding community. 

“There is no thriving economy around the current county jail,”  he said. 

The jail has been in downtown Oklahoma City for decades, but since opening in 1991, the existing facility has had issues with detainee deaths, poor living conditions and inmate escapes.

Supporters of keeping it in its current location argue that it is located near the county courthouse, Oklahoma City Police headquarters and the public defender’s office.

Joshua Shultz, executive director for the Del City Chamber of Commerce, said residents and business owners are frustrated by a lack of transparency. They believe that their concerns are being ignored. 

He said residents worry the city won’t survive the next decade if the jail is built.