OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma House of Representatives endorsed two bills last week to give tribal law enforcement officers more authority and help control a county’s inmate population.
Both measures were written by state Rep. Justin Humphrey, a Republican from Lane.
Humphrey said House Bill 2589 would give county sheriffs and jail trust administrators the ability to request immediate transfers of inmates who were being held for the Department of Corrections. Under the measure the DOC would be required to schedule the transfer of the inmate from the county jail to a DOC facility within three working days.
The measure would help county officials better regulate their local jail populations. In Oklahoma County, the Oklahoma County Detention Center has battled overcrowding for years while holding inmates for DOC. State law specifies that DOC reimburse county governments $27 per day for the cost of holding DOC inmates.
Several years ago, county commissioners from Seminole, Oklahoma, Atoka, Lincoln and Delaware counties sued the state, claiming the state per diem payments for prisoners wasn’t enough to cover the expenditures made by the counties.
In 2021, Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals dismissed part of the of the claim made by the counties and sent the case back to district court. “The narrow issue on appeal is the district court’s subject matter jurisdiction. The statute governs reimbursement for retention of inmates, not costs for transporting them,” the court wrote.
Humphrey said the DOC inmates had “already been sentenced for crimes committed, and they are the responsibility of the Department of Corrections.
“This bill just allows county sheriffs or jail trust administrators to request an immediate transport of these individuals from the jail to prison should the need arise,” he said.
A second measure, House Bill 2608, changes the definition of “local law enforcement authority” within the Oklahoma Sex Offender Registration Act to include the police or law enforcement officers of any federally recognized Indian nation or tribe in Oklahoma.
Under this bill, persons subject to registration will be required to register if they reside or stay within the jurisdictional boundaries of the Indian nation or tribe. Humphrey said the bill doesn’t not put additional burden on the offender but allows tribal nations to access the information in the state’s sex offender registration and gives the state access to the systems the tribes.
“This is so all people in the state can know who is a registered sex offender, and where they reside. This will help us keep all Oklahomans safe,” he said. “I think it is a good thing to try to work with our tribal governments to try to extend law enforcement across boundaries and help each other in this manner.”
Both measures now go to the Oklahoma Senate for consideration.