The Oklahoma County Detention Center will soon have fewer people checking on detainees and ensuring their safety after jail officials canceled a contract with a staffing company to save money at the cash-strapped facility.

The jail entered an agreement with Louisiana-based VieMed Healthcare Staffing LLC in May 2024 to staff the jail with 20 to 30 contract workers whose sole task would be to conduct sight checks on detainees. The jail was paying the company about $180,000 a month for staffing.

The jail has long struggled to retain and recruit detention officers. And the lack of staff means security checks are routinely missed, The Frontier reported in 2024. 

State law requires detention officers to visually check on detainees at least once an hour, and a jail spokesperson said officers also conduct checks more frequently on those on suicide watch. More than 53 detainees have died at the facility since 2020; A state multi-county grand jury in 2023 found chronic understaffing at the jail and that many detainee deaths were preventable.

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The number of detention officers at the jail has continued to decline since the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority took control of the facility from the county sheriff in 2020. Staffing dipped in late August to just 134 officers, who supervise an average of 1,500 detainees at the 13-story facility. The jail had 74 detention officers as of April 17, though it had budgeted for 111. Oklahoma State Department of Health inspectors have cited the jail for insufficient staffing seven times since 2020. 

The Criminal Justice Authority voted to terminate the staffing company contract on March 31, acting on a recommendation from jail administrators to cut costs.

After April 30, the contract workers — known as “safety checkers” — will no longer work at the jail.

“The bottom line is we had to cancel because we will not have the money to pay them,” said Mark Opgrande, a spokesperson for the jail. 

The jail was facing a $5.8 million budget deficit and the prospect of laying off half its staff before the Oklahoma County Budget Board stepped in to cover the gap with an extra $4.6 million in additional funding. Opgrande said the jail had to cut the contract for sight checkers to help close the remaining budget shortfall.

Oklahoma County Commissioner Brian Maughan, a member of the county budget board, said it’s unfortunate the contract was canceled, but the cost-saving efforts are necessary and he doesn’t believe losing the contracted sight checkers will impact detainee safety. 

Maughan has long advocated for a sales tax in Oklahoma County, which would help cover the cost of jail operations and the construction of a much-needed new detention center. Oklahoma County is the only county in the state without a dedicated sales tax, according to Maughan. 

“I can’t build the current new jail with air, and we can’t continue to operate at a sufficient level the current operating jail that we have, the old jail, if we don’t get some additional funding here soon,” Maughan said.

Mark Faulk, a member of the activist group People’s Council for Justice Reform, called cutting the contract for sight checkers “irresponsible and dangerous” and said it will put further strain on the detention officers, who already work long hours to provide continuous staffing at the jail. Faulk is running for District 1 Oklahoma County Commissioner against incumbent Jason Lowe in the June 16 Democratic primary  

“With contracted outside staffing, the death toll in what is known as the deadliest jail in America was finally dropping,” Faulk said. “Not only will this create a dangerous and potentially deadly environment for detainees, it will put employees at risk as well.” 

Michael Olson, policy counsel for the advocacy group Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform, worries more suicides and violent incidents will occur at the jail if there’s reduced supervision. Suicide is one of the leading causes of death for detainees at the jail, which is often dubbed one of the deadliest lock ups in the nation. 

Two detainees have died at the Oklahoma County jail so far this year, though jail administrators say in-custody deaths are lower than in previous years. Sheila Prince, 52, was pronounced dead April 8 at a hospital after experiencing a medical emergency at the jail. An autopsy report for Prince’s death is not yet available, and the cause of death hasn’t been publicly released. 

And in January, 22-year-old Jeremiah Jermaine Coffey was found unresponsive in his cell, taken to the hospital, and pronounced dead, according to The Oklahoman. Like Prince, Coffey’s cause of death is still under investigation. 

“Cutting safety staff is unlikely to ease these problems and will likely make these situations more common,” Olson said. “Everyone is safer when there is a consistent, visible source of supervision throughout the facility.”

Jail Administrator Tim Kimrey said in a Jan. 23 budget meeting that the jail is “running with a skeleton crew” and is short 100 detention officers. 
Detention officers at the jail continue to perform safety checks, Opgrande said. He anticipates 25 to 35 people will attend the county’s next detention officer academy, which begins May 4. He hopes there will be additional hires to help the jail offset the loss of manpower after the staffing company leaves.