County Jail

[rcjunkie]

Would be a good use for Crossroads mall, $400 million would pay for 100's of guards and lots of weapons/ammo.

[Patrick]

Actually retrofitting Crossroads Mall as a new county jail might not be a bad idea, to save money. Why build a brand new shiny building when Crossroads could be gutted and converted into a new jail? It's not like Crossroads is going to be used for retail again, and a county jail would be a good reuse of the property.

[Kerry]

I get it Joe daddy - you want to smoke pot without the fear of going to jail. Is there anything else you want to do that you don't want to go to jail for (I mean besides paying for sex). Maybe we should just shift to cutting off hands, fingers, and legs - that would cut down on overcrowding as well. Anyone up for that?

[betts]

How does jailing a recreational drug user improve society?

How does jailing a prostitute improve society?

How does jailing someone soliciting a prostitute improve society?

Decriminalizing marijuana would certainly help relieve overcrowing in jail. Same with prostitution, and drug posession of any kind for personal use.

I'd like to see the percentage of those jailed on drug charges, specifically posession for small amounts regardless of the type drug.

And then there's the category of non-violent offenders. These folks should be treated differently than violent offenders and kept seperate from the violent offenders. When they get mixed together in the system, the chance at rehabilitation of the non violent offender decrease dramatically. There are many things we could do to reduce over crowding in our jails and prisons in Oklahoma and arounf the country.

Agree.

And if we could use Crossroads Mall as our new jail, I'm all for it. A little recycling!

[Spartan]

Would be a good use for Crossroads mall, $400 million would pay for 100's of guards and lots of weapons/ammo.

That is a really interesting idea. It might not even be that devastating for the south side, because it would just be bringing in the same old ilk from when it was a mall..LOL

Haven't we brought that up a few times before?

[rcjunkie]

That is a really interesting idea. It might not even be that devastating for the south side, because it would just be bringing in the same old ilk from when it was a mall..LOL

Haven't we brought that up a few times before?

This folks is what you call 'stereotyping"

[mcca7596]

And stereotyping is always based on some modicum of truth; hence the generalization.

[Joe Daddy]

I get it Joe daddy - you want to smoke pot without the fear of going to jail. Is there anything else you want to do that you don't want to go to jail for (I mean besides paying for sex).

LOL...No, Kerry, you don't get it. You don't "get" the concept of analytical thinking. I don't care to smoke weed. Don't like the effect it has on me. But I have no problem with those that do. I wouldn't pay for sex if it was legal, but I wouldn't begrudge those that wish to engage in that activity.

Maybe we should just shift to cutting off hands, fingers, and legs - that would cut down on overcrowding as well. Anyone up for that?

Using your logic, one might conclude you are a proponent of Sharia law. Tell us, do you visualize America as Kerryabdullastan where you get to personally behead all the "libs" and "progressives", and control everybody elses sex life and personal lives? Are you a closet radical Islamist at heart?

Do yourself a favor and learn to think for yourself instead of letting FOX, Limbaugh, Hannity, Boortz, Savage et al think for you.

[circuitboard]

LOL...No, Kerry, you don't get it. You don't "get" the concept of analytical thinking. I don't care to smoke weed. Don't like the effect it has on me. But I have no problem with those that do. I wouldn't pay for sex if it was legal, but I wouldn't begrudge those that wish to engage in that activity.



Using your logic, one might conclude you are a proponent of Sharia law. Tell us, do you visualize America as Kerryabdullastan where you get to personally behead all the "libs" and "progressives", and control everybody elses sex life and personal lives? Are you a closet radical Islamist at heart?

Do yourself a favor and learn to think for yourself instead of letting FOX, Limbaugh, Hannity, Boortz, Savage et al think for you.

Nice Avitar Joedaddy :-)

[Larry OKC]

Actually retrofitting Crossroads Mall as a new county jail might not be a bad idea, to save money. Why build a brand new shiny building when Crossroads could be gutted and converted into a new jail? It's not like Crossroads is going to be used for retail again, and a county jail would be a good reuse of the property.

And the multi-million $$$ question is would it save a significant amount? They compared "fixing" the current jail and building from scratch and the cost difference wasn't that much.

[Spartan]

This folks is what you call 'stereotyping"

Um. Wait, do you realize we're talking about Crossroads Mall, junkie? Hell yeah, it's stereotyping. Did you ever go there back when it had mall stuff inside of it? In fact I think the ilk still hang out there, so you can catch a last glimpse if you've not gotten to, despite that all the mall stuff closed.

[rcjunkie]

Um. Wait, do you realize we're talking about Crossroads Mall, junkie? Hell yeah, it's stereotyping. Did you ever go there back when it had mall stuff inside of it? In fact I think the ilk still hang out there, so you can catch a last glimpse if you've not gotten to, despite that all the mall stuff closed.

Yes--I know were talking about Crossroads Mall, Yes--I've been to Crossroads Mall, Yes--you are sterotyping, Yes--sterotyping is Wrong.

Sterotyping/Predjudice/Discrimination

[Spartan]

Yes--I know were talking about Crossroads Mall, Yes--I've been to Crossroads Mall, Yes--you are sterotyping, Yes--sterotyping is Wrong.

Sterotyping/Predjudice/Discrimination

Uh.......

(it's stereotyping and prejudice btw)

.......just give it up man.

[rcjunkie]

Uh.......

(it's stereotyping and prejudice btw)

.......just give it up man.

I will never give up responding to your "better then thou" postings.

Mispelled words doesn't make it right. How would you know who shops at Crossroads, because I know there's no way you would be caught dead on that side of town.

[bluedogok]

And the multi-million $$$ question is would it save a significant amount? They compared "fixing" the current jail and building from scratch and the cost difference wasn't that much.

The cost of "fixing" a tower with structural issues versus retrofitting a sprawling, mostly ground level mall (I know there are multiple levels at Crossroads, there just isn't a whole bunch of them) would likely make retrofitting the mall much cheaper. That is why building out is almost always cheaper than building up in OKC and why so many do it.

[Larry OKC]

Then you also have the issue of it being located away from the Courts (unless we want to relocate them and the associated lawyers, etc)...that ends up with a lot more vacant downtown space. Is that something we really want to encourage?

[kevinpate]

Then you also have the issue of it being located away from the Courts (unless we want to relocate them and the associated lawyers, etc)...that ends up with a lot more vacant downtown space. Is that something we really want to encourage?

The jail being further from the Courthouse is more and more a non-issue. Video conferencing avoids many transfers already, and this is likely to only increase, even if the jail remains where it is and undergoes renovations. Most attorneys don't have a significant time percentage allotted to defending the accused, and the few attorneys who do are not likely to move their practices from downtown if the jail moves.

[bluedogok]

Travis County has their largest correctional facility out past Austin-Bergstrom airport, the county jail downtown is mainly for booking/holding of inmates for the courts. In the past few years the City of Austin bought a former Home Depot store north of downtown on I-35 to relocate some of the police/court functions at the city level. In this day and age it makes no sense to have a large inmate facility in downtown, a much smaller transfer/holding center downtown adjacent to the courthouse and large facility out where land is cheaper makes much more sense and better for the downtown environment.

[MustangGT]

I agree and like the Austin model for duplicatin here. The video capability means that even fewer attornies will be bothered by a move out of downtown. Those that are impacted will just have to adapt.

[BG918]

Travis County has their largest correctional facility out past Austin-Bergstrom airport, the county jail downtown is mainly for booking/holding of inmates for the courts. In the past few years the City of Austin bought a former Home Depot store north of downtown on I-35 to relocate some of the police/court functions at the city level. In this day and age it makes no sense to have a large inmate facility in downtown, a much smaller transfer/holding center downtown adjacent to the courthouse and large facility out where land is cheaper makes much more sense and better for the downtown environment.

Cleveland County is doing the same thing. Booking facility in downtown Norman (where the current county jail is located) while the new, larger county jail will be located on the outskirts at I-35/Franklin between the two largest cities in the county, Norman and Moore.

[Midtowner]

The jail being further from the Courthouse is more and more a non-issue. Video conferencing avoids many transfers already, and this is likely to only increase, even if the jail remains where it is and undergoes renovations. Most attorneys don't have a significant time percentage allotted to defending the accused, and the few attorneys who do are not likely to move their practices from downtown if the jail moves.

Agreed. I have a fairly limited criminal practice. I don't have to go down to the jail very often at all. The vast majority of the time, my clients don't come to see me 'til they've posted bail anyhow. If the jail relocates, I can definitely see a lot of bail bondsmen relocating, though.

The courtrooms themselves need to stay downtown. A lot of lawyers who do criminal practice also do other things as well, and often they have to juggle different sorts of cases at the same time as inevitably, things end up being overset. Moving the criminal court rooms elsewhere would likely cause more delays and problems with civil and family cases, which by local rule, I believe have to defer to criminal proceedings when lawyers are double booked.

(I know you know this, but everyone else probably doesn't)

[bluedogok]

I can see some low level court functions being relocated out of the downtown areas, I know that a new courthouse is planned near the existing one in Downtown Austin. I think Travis County may have relocated some traffic court functions out of down, and rumors are that will be the case with the city in the former Home Depot space.

[OKCTalker]

The county jail is again in the news, with stories today in the Journal Record and from the Associated Press. Oklahoma County was given until November 2014 to "institute major upgrades or build a new facility." The County admitted earlier this year that "the county jail still isn't up to standards." Has that changed? The AP story then says that he (Maughan) is confident that "the issue has been taken care of appropriately, even though voters have shown little interest in a bond issue to pay for improvements."

How can the County not comply with the USDOJ order, and yet state that problems have been resolved?

[HangryHippo]

The county jail is again in the news, with stories today in the Journal Record and from the Associated Press. Oklahoma County was given until November 2014 to "institute major upgrades or build a new facility." The County admitted earlier this year that "the county jail still isn't up to standards." Has that changed? The AP story then says that he (Maughan) is confident that "the issue has been taken care of appropriately, even though voters have shown little interest in a bond issue to pay for improvements."

How can the County not comply with the USDOJ order, and yet state that problems have been resolved?

This contradiction is no surprise given the piss poor leadership. Trust that nothing has been resolved.

[Plutonic Panda]

This is still an issue I guess. I didn't know. They should rebuild it. Go taller and a better design.

I don't have a sub but if anyone does can you please post the article or a summary.
?Bite the bullet?: As federal deadline looms, commissioner says county jail issue needs to be put on ballot | The Journal Record