A bill mandating yearly inspections and establishing minimum standards for Oklahoma's county detention centers was signed into state law by Gov. Kevin Stitt Monday.
Referred to as the 'Jail Standards Act,' it received broad bipartisan support, passing unanimously in the Senate and with a 74-12 vote in the House of Representatives. It was one of the first bills signed into law by Stitt this year and goes into effect immediately.
Sen. Darrell Weaver, R-Moore, who authored the bill, said it will give Oklahoma's 77 counties "some level of standards" within their jails. He said Senate Bill 595 was developed as part of an agreement between the Oklahoma Sheriffs' Association and State Department of Health.
Under the measure, the Department of Health is required to review and approve jail construction and remodeling plans. All detention centers are also subject to an inspection by the Department of Health at least once a year – a practice Oklahoma has already enforced since the 1970s. But with the new law, jails can now legally request a temporary waiver from inspections.
Weaver told The Frontier it isn't intended to help jails dodge state inspections, but to allow detention centers to get waivers in the event of an emergency like a fire or tornado.
A county, municipality or public trust that operates the jail can ask for a waiver for hardships, "including" natural or man-made disasters, but the wording doesn't preclude the Health Department from granting one for other reasons.
In 2024, state inspectors ruled 51 of the 65 county jails they visited were "not in substantial compliance" with the security, health care, sanitary and living conditions requirements laid out in state law.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
