Oklahoma County jail price tag rises to $835 million

The estimated cost to build a bond-financed Oklahoma County jail has risen to about $835 million from around $700 million earlier this year and is now 2.6 times higher than the initial expected price.

Inflation along with the cost of furniture, fixtures, and equipment for the facility that will replace an existing detention center accounted for the increase, Oklahoma County Engineer Stacey Trumbo said in an email on Tuesday.

County voters approved $260 million of general obligation bonds in June 2022 for what was then a $316 million jail. In 2023, the county issued $45 million of the bonds. 

The remaining $215 million of bonds were sold competitively to BofA Securities in October over the objections of County Commissioner Jason Lowe, who called selling the bonds without knowing the fate of a potential sales tax hike ballot measure next year for the project irresponsible.

Trumbo said the “sales tax is the only way forward.”

The county aims to replace its 13-story detention center in downtown Oklahoma City — which opened in 1991 and has been under state and federal scrutiny for health, safety, and other concerns — with a jail that includes space for medical and mental health treatment.

A mental health facility the county is paying for with American Rescue Plan Act money is being constructed on property where the replacement jail will be built in phases. 

Meanwhile, Oklahoma County met a deadline set by Moody’s Ratings, which warned it could place the county’s Aa1 GO rating under review for potential withdrawal if a final fiscal 2024 financial audit was not produced by the end of November.  

The county’s audit for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2024, was posted on the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA website Nov. 14.