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"Let Us Speak!": Protestors Disrupt Oklahoma County Jail Trust Meeting

The Oklahoma County Jail.
Brent Fuchs
/
The Journal Record

Protestors on Monday pushed the Oklahoma County Jail Trust to postpone a discussion and potential vote on how to use more than $36 million in coronavirus relief funding until it hears from the public.

The protestors were angry most of the federal relief funds were recommended to be spent on the jail during a recent county budget board meeting.

The protestors interrupted the meeting when it became clear the county jail trust planned to discuss how to spend that money without public comment.

They demanded that they be given a chance to voice their concerns before any vote on spending the relief funds.

According to the Oklahoman newspaper, Trust Chairwoman Tricia Everest agreed to not hold a vote on the $36 million in relief funds until after public comments on Wednesday.

Protestors were also upset by the jail’s long standing state of disrepair. The chairwoman agreed to their demands to spend a night in the jail to experience what it is like.

StateImpact Oklahoma is a partnership of Oklahoma’s public radio stations which relies on contributions from readers and listeners to fulfill its mission of public service to Oklahoma and beyond. Donate online.

Quinton joined the team at StateImpact Oklahoma in 2017, focusing on criminal justice reporting. He is an OSU grad with degrees in Economics and Marketing who got his start in radio at KOSU. After graduation, Quinton served as Morning Edition Host/General Assignment Reporter at KBBI Radio in Homer, Alaska and Education Reporter at KTOO Public Media in Juneau, Alaska. Quinton loves writing, reading and has an intense relationship with his Netflix account.
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