LAWTON – During its April 29 meeting, the Tillman County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution stating that other counties must seek the board’s permission before building a jail in Tillman County.
At the suggestion of state Rep. Trey Caldwell (R-Lawton), Comanche County Commission Chairman Josh Powers had been exploring a lead into the possibility of converting the former Southwest Oklahoma Juvenile Center into an adult jail that could house inmates from Comanche County Detention Center. SWOJC is located in the Tillman County town of Manitou.
Powers, who serves as the liaison between the commission and CCDC, is looking for a permanent solution to overcrowding at the jail. The state has said the jail cannot house more than 283 inmates at a time.
The CCDC had 422 inmates total on Monday, May 20. That number includes:
• 277 housed at CCDC.
• 13 in the Greer County jail.
• 12 in the Grady County jail.
• 43 in the Okmulgee County jail.
• 22 in the Seminole County jail.
• 55 in the Tillman County jail.
“Our objective is to follow the limits that are in place and find other means to accommodate those people,” Powers said in a May 10 interview.
Comanche County currently has inmate housing contracts with six other counties across the state, including Tillman, Grady, Greer, Okmulgee, Pottawatomie and Seminole counties, which have helped CCDC keep its numbers down, but they are only temporary measures, interim jail administrator David Weber said in an email to a Southwest Ledger reporter.
“We are grateful for these counties helping us, but we need a permanent solution which would be in the best interest of Comanche County and its citizens,” he said. Jail costs Shortly after the Tillman County Commission passed Resolution 1732, Chairman Levi Krasser told the Ledger that the measure would ensure the board had a voice in any negotiations over building new jails in Tillman County. He added that the measure was not necessarily intended to block other counties from pursuing such a project.
Powers called Tillman County Commissioners’ resolution “aggressive.” He said the resolution was put in place to stop Comanche County from finding a permanent solution to house its inmates. He added that Tillman County officials had not contacted him to discuss their concerns before approving the resolution.
Powers estimated that Comanche County spends about $90,000 each month on housing inmates in the Tillman County Jail, located in Frederick, which goes a long way toward helping the jail cover its operating costs.
“I’ve been in touch with prior elected officials in Tillman County, who advised it requires $1.3 million a year to keep the Tillman County Jail operational,” he said. “Comanche County taxpayers pay Tillman County almost a million dollars a year. So clearly without our funding, Tillman County would probably go bankrupt.”
Powers has directed Weber to prioritize sending inmates to the five other counties where Comanche County has contracts before shipping them to Tillman County.
Powers has directed Weber to prioritize sending inmates to the five other counties where Comanche County has contracts before shipping them to Tillman County. Due to the aggressive of the Tillman County Board of Commissioners.
“We currently have open beds in multiple counties. We will be redirecting our inmates to those counties and using Tillman County much less and as a last resort,” he said. “I will not approve of or tolerate Tillman County Board of Commissioners taking advantage of Comanche County taxpayers any longer.”
Powers said he can reduce the number of Comanche County inmates housed in the Tillman County Jail to zero without violating the contract between the two counties.
“Whether intentional or not, this resolution blocks Comanche County and others from finding another solution for inmate housing,” Powers said. “It holds Comanche County hostage and requires us and other counties to keep our inmates in their (Tillman County) jail,” Powers said. “They are sabotaging our options.”
Comanche County pays Tillman County $42.50 per inmate per day to house CCDC inmates, according to the contract. However, the contract does not require Comanche County to send a cer tain number of inmates to Tillman County.
Krasser did not return a call seeking comment for this story.
Repurposing SWOJC The state Office of Juvenile Affairs owned and operated SWOJC from 1995 until it closed in the early 2020s, Caldwell said. The lawmaker represents the 63rd District, which includes Comanche, Cotton, Kiowa and Tillman counties, in the Oklahoma House of Representatives.
Caldwell said he has spent several years looking for a way to repurpose the Manitou facility, which included asking the Oklahoma Department of Corrections to consider converting the site into either a juvenile detention center or a minimum-security prison. However, he said, the DOC passed on the project after concluding the state did not need more prison beds.
Caldwell said he also explored other possibilities for reusing the site, such as partnering with a couple of the state’s Native American tribes to turn the fa cility into a juvenile or adult detention center. But those endeavors were also unsuccessful. He then asked Powers if SWOJC would be a viable option to accommodate CCDC’s ongoing overcrowding issue.
“That’s when I was like, ‘Well, I know of a facility that would perfectly meet that threshold to be able to achieve what you’re trying to achieve, and you can save the people of Comanche County a lot of money by not having to build a $25 (million) or $40 million-dollar new jail,’” Caldwell said. “‘You could essentially convert that place into a long-term holding facility, due to its proximity.’” Caldwell said he put Powers in touch with Mitch Jones, a member of the Town of Manitou’s Board of Trustees, about the possibility of converting the Manitou facility, which now belongs to the town, in to an adult jail. That was the extent of Caldwell’s involvement in the matter, Caldwell said.
“My thing was trying to find a common- sense solution that would be a net benefit for Comanche County, which is one of my counties, but also at the same time be a net benefit for Tillman County,” Caldwell said. “And that’s what I suggested to Commissioner Powers.”
Caldwell said the state does not currently offer financial aid for jail conversion projects, but he thought lawmakers might be interested in funding such a program when they build the budget for fiscal year 2025 or 2026.
Preliminary steps Powers said he talked with Jones about the possible conversion, and Jones seemed enthusiastic about it. Powers said the two men knew bringing the jail up to code would be a major project, but they weren’t sure that was even feasible.
“If it was going to turn out to where it cost the Comanche County taxpayer more money, or even equal but more work, it was clearly not going to be considered,” Powers said.
He said his conversation with Jones was a preliminary step, and he has not presented that option to the other Comanche County commissioners yet.
Jones declined to comment for this story.
Visiting the Manitou center Powers then contacted Weber, who assembled a small group of staffers who could help him evaluate the Manitou center. In early April the group sent blueprints of the building, a list of required upgrades and other information to Powers.
“We didn’t have any pricing or anything at this time, but we had basic information,” Powers said.
Weber confirmed that he visited the Manitou center with his chief of security and maintenance supervisor on April 5, and Jones took them on a tour of the facil ity.
As Weber inspected the center, he thought about its potential for helping CCDC solve its overcrowding problem, he said.
“There is definitely work and updating that would need to be done, like offices, kitchen and security equipment,” he said. “I am not an expert on jail construction, so there could be more that needs to be done. And I really could not give an estimate on cost or how long it would take. But I do feel like it would fit our needs.”
Powers said somehow the Tillman County commissioners found out about Weber’s visit to Manitou. Powers added that he had not discussed the possibility of remodeling the facility with the commissioners yet because any agreement concerning the facility would be between Comanche County and the Town of Manitou, not Tillman County.
“It’d be no different than the City of Lawton not asking the county commissioners if they could build a Braum’s down here on Sheridan Road,” Powers said. “They don’t get to ask me. I don’t have any input.”
Powers told the Ledger he has reached out to the City of Lawton and started preliminary talks with them about possible future inmate housing options.