Oklahoma County Sheriff Tommie Johnson III has filed a lawsuit arguing that transporting inmates to court hearings is not his department’s responsibility, citing the Jail Trust’s governing document.

Dispute Over Responsibilities

The sheriff claims that when the jail was transferred to the Jail Trust, the authority also assumed responsibility for inmate transportation. He also stated that he legally ended a 2023 memorandum of understanding that required his office to handle inmate transport.

Jim Holman, chairman of the Jail Trust, expressed confusion over the sheriff’s position. “The sheriff sits on the Trust; that’s what’s really confounding to me,” Holman said. “To me, it’s unnecessary, and I’m not obviously looking at it through the same lens as the sheriff is, but I don’t understand.”

Holman explained that the Jail Trust cannot move inmates from the jail to the courthouse due to its indenture, which acts as a governing document. “At our May meeting, the Board of County Commissioners voted not to ratify such a change if we asked for it, so it’s never been voted on by the Trust; we can’t amend it,” Holman said.

The sheriff’s lawsuit points to Article 4 of the Jail Trust’s indenture, which states that courthouse holding and detention facilities, as well as the detention of inmates, are “specifically excepted and not a part of the purposes of this authority.”

Original reporting: Oklahoma City News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.