Oklahoma’s county jail backlog has increased 74% since 2021, contributing to an uptick in some jail populations and a heightened workload for county officials.
As of July 28, 1,355 sentenced inmates were awaiting transfer to state custody, up from 777 on July 26, 2021. About 880 of those inmates have the necessary paperwork to be moved, according to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections’ scheduled receptions dashboard.
Oklahoma and Tulsa Counties, which make up about 37% of the state’s population and 60% of prison admissions, have both scaled back prisoner transports in recent months. The Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office has reduced male transfer trips to once per week instead of twice. Tulsa County officials are making the drive bi-weekly instead of weekly…