LAWTON – The Comanche County Board of Commissioners recently approved Comanche County Detention Center Administrator David Weber’s request for additional funds to pay for shipping some inmates to out-of-town jails.
With little discussion, the board voted 3-0 July 29 to grant Weber’s request for $199,864.88, which will cover the jail’s costs for sending inmates out of county for the month of June. The money will come out of the county’s use tax fund.
Instead of taking the money for housing inmates in other jails out of CCDC’s budget, Weber presents requests for additional funding to the commissioners, Commission Chairman Josh Powers said in an Aug. 1 email to a Southwest Ledger reporter.
“Because the additional housing was not a line item in the budget and an additional request, it needs to be requested in writing and not just paid for out of the regular funds that run the jail,” Powers said. “If he (Weber) uses the regular funds, then he will be short on money to pay his normal budgeted bills. This also allows us to track how many additional requests and the amounts that it is taking to cover the additional expenditures.”
CCDC sends some of its inmates to other counties in a bid to keep the jail’s average daily population at or below the state-mandated limit of 283 inmates. Comanche County currently has inmate-housing contracts with Grady, Greer, Okmulgee, Pottawatomie, Seminole and Tillman counties.