Oklahoma’s federally designated disability rights agency has opened an investigation into the Tulsa Municipal Jail afterThe Frontier uncovered preventable deaths at the facility.
Disability Rights Oklahoma said The Frontier’s reporting, which found seven deaths over three years at the 70-bed city jail, gave it probable cause to launch the probe. The agency has the authority under federal law to investigate jails and other institutions if there is reason to believe that people with disabilities, including those with severe mental illness, have been subjected to abuse or neglect.
“One death is too many,” said Brian Wilkerson, legal director for Disability Rights Oklahoma. The number of deaths at the small facility in a short period of time was among the factors that prompted the investigation, he said, along with concerns about whether the jail is providing adequate medical care.
Formerly known as the Oklahoma Disability Law Center, the group serves as Oklahoma’s protection and advocacy agency, part of a national network of independent watchdog organizations created and funded by Congress to protect the rights of individuals with disabilities and mental illness. Under federal law, these agencies have the authority to enter facilities, review confidential records, and interview detainees privately at jails, nursing homes, psychiatric facilities, schools, and other settings where people with disabilities are housed.
The agency reached an agreement in 2020 with the Oklahoma County Detention Center to continuously monitor the conditions at the facility after it found inadequate mental-health screening and suicide-prevention practices. In 2024, it reached a court-enforced agreement requiring the state to reduce wait times for people with severe mental illness held in jail awaiting court-ordered treatment.
Under federal law, “media reports such as newspaper articles” can satisfy the probable cause standard required to open an investigation.
The agency has the authority to conduct unannounced inspections and plans to visit the Tulsa city jail multiple times. If investigators find problems, Wilkerson said the agency would first seek voluntary changes through discussions with city and jail officials and monitoring to ensure compliance. But it can also pursue litigation to bring policy changes, issue public reports, and file complaints with agencies that oversee the jail, like the Oklahoma State Department of Health.
“We always have to try to start with the lowest level of intervention possible,” Wilkerson said, “but ultimately, if the investigation reveals really wide-ranging systemic changes that need to be made, there’s always the consideration of some type of systemic change litigation.”
Congress created protection and advocacy agencies in 1975 to safeguard people with developmental disabilities, later expanding their jurisdiction to include those with severe mental illness in 1986 and people in recovery from addiction in 2008. Wilkerson noted that people arrested on municipal charges like trespassing, public intoxication, and shoplifting frequently include individuals with mental illness, putting much of the jail population within the agency’s jurisdiction.
Disability Rights Oklahoma investigators initially struggled to access the Tulsa city jail. Joshua Skobel, managing attorney for monitoring and investigations, said the agency first emailed the jail administrator and city legal staff on March 17 but received no response. After multiple follow-up emails also went unanswered, investigators went to the facility in person on April 1, communicated with jail staff through a door buzzer at the jail’s underground entrance, and waited nearly an hour before leaving after no one came to meet them. On April 13, investigators returned and were met by the jail administrator, who referred them to the city’s legal department rather than letting them conduct an inspection.
In a statement to The Frontier, the city said a site visit has now been scheduled and attributed the delay to standard security protocols.
“As is the case for any external group seeking access to our facility, our priority is the safety of those we serve, which requires us to verify the identity and authority of any organization,” the City of Tulsa said in a statement. “Historically, the Oklahoma State Department of Health has been one of the only external entities that is authorized by the State of Oklahoma to be provided access to the lockup, and we have complied with them at every turn.”
“We will continue to ensure access is handled promptly and in accordance with the law,” the city said.
Once inside, investigators plan to walk through areas where detainees are held, conduct private interviews with inmates, and review documents including policies, incident reports, and records related to deaths and medical incidents.
The City of Tulsa has so far denied The Frontier’s access to those records.
Readers with information relevant to the investigation can contact Disability Rights Oklahoma at 800-880-7755 or drok.org.
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Garrett Yalch was hired in 2024, joining The Frontier’s Tulsa newsroom. He covers corporate and government accountability issues, with a focus on the Tulsa area. He can be reached at Garrett@readfrontier.com
