A proposal by the Tulsa County Sheriff to charge cities for holding their inmates before charges are filed is on hold.
The Tulsa County jail board approved a request by the City of Tulsa to extend its agreement with the sheriff's office by 90 days, which should give enough time for a task force to complete a cost study started in April.
Undersheriff Tim Albin says the extension will be given to all local municipalities they work with.
"The fair thing to do with the other municipalities is also stay that deal," Albin said. "We've got a meeting proposed July 1 to sit down with the area chiefs and their representatives to talk about some of the logistics and some of the things involved in this."
The task force found ways to lower the daily cost of housing an inmate from $63 to $50. The reimbursement rate cities pay the jail is $45.
Albin says the extra time will be used to sort things out.
"One of the options is the City of Tulsa can go run their own jail," Albin said. "They have a facility, so, I mean, should they choose not to want to pay their fair share to house their inmates, they have a facility, they can go operate their own facility.
"Or, they can sit down and negotiate a price — and a fair price — to house their inmates."
Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett is a member of the jail board. He abstained from voting on the extension because counsel to the board said it could be a conflict.
