A unanimous Oklahoma Supreme Court reversed a published opinion of the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals this week and held that Turn Key Health Clinics, a private company that contracts to provide medical services in jails, is entitled to sovereign immunity under the Oklahoma Governmental Tort Claims Act.
Sovereign immunity prevents lawsuits against governments unless the immunity is waived. The unusual opinion found the appellate courts lacked jurisdiction to hear the case as filed, but also “recast” the filings to give the Supreme Court jurisdiction to make the ruling on an important issue of law. The case involves a lawsuit filed by the husband of a woman who died in the Creek County Jail in 2016. District Court Judge Douglas Golden ruled that sovereign immunity prohibited the claim, the Court of Civil Appeals reversed that decision, but the Supreme Court reversed the lower appellate panel Tuesday.
“The trial court understood, and we agree, that [the plaintiff’s] argument was based upon Turn Key’s status as an independent contractor employing (or contracting with) licensed medical professionals for the jail, and as such the trial court ruled the alleged cause of action was subject to sovereign immunity,” Justice James Edmondson wrote for the unanimous majority. “We conclude the Governmental Tort Claims Act makes licensed medical professionals to be ‘employees’ of this state, regardless of the place in this state where duties as employees are performed, when the licensed medical professionals are under contract, including when under contract as an independent contractor, with city, county, or state entities and providing medical care to inmates or detainees in the custody or control of law enforcement agencies.”
The decision makes it substantially more difficult to successfully sue a licensed medical professional who contracts with city, county or state detention facilities or in the state. Turn Key’s director of communications, Kenna Griffin, provided a short statement following the outcome of the case.
“The loss of any person’s life is sad, and we understand why that might lead to wanting to misplace blame on others. We’re pleased with the outcome in this case,” Griffin said. “We think the court made the right ruling.”
Creek County death spurred case
On Oct. 17, 2016, Brenda Jean Sanders was booked into the Creek County Jail. Just a month later, on Nov. 20, she was transferred to a hospital with “severe sepsis with shock, acute hypoxic respiratory failure, acute kidney injury, hepatopathy, coagulopathy, anemia, and thrombocytopenia.” She died the following day. In 2023, her husband, Philip Sanders, filed suit against Turn Key Health Clinics, the company contracted to provide medical care at the county jail.
Sanders’ attorneys argued the Oklahoma Governmental Torts Act prevented independent contractors from being treated as government employees entitled to sovereign immunity. Turn Key’s lawyers pointed to a section of the act which specifically extended immunity to licensed medical contractors working in county jails. Turn Key won a dismissal in Creek County District Court, but the decision was reversed by the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals.
In reversing the Court of Civil Appeals, the Supreme Court found that the appeal was not based on a final appealable order, but an unappealable preliminary dismissal order. However, instead of sending the case back and waiting for a final appealable order, the court “recast” the case to a petition for original jurisdiction to rule on the legal merits of the argument.
“More than 30 years ago we explained: ‘This court on occasion, and when justice so requires, will treat a petition in error as an original action for a writ, or vice versa,” Edmondson wrote. “We have explained our recasting must be ‘procedurally proper,’ and we have recast when it serves the interests of judicial economy and when the scope of the adjudication presents an issue of law.”
Turn Key has faced numerous lawsuits in various states
The Supreme Court’s ruling is a major boon for companies like Turn Key Heath that contract with jails and prisons in Oklahoma to provide medical services. With a footprint spanning jails in more than a dozen states, Turn Key Health was founded in Oklahoma by businesspersons that include former House Majority Leader Jon Echols, who recently launched a 2026 campaign for attorney general. While Echols no longer maintains a majority stake in the company, he remains in its employ.
Last July, The Marshall Project and The Frontier published a multi-chapter report examining deaths at jails where Turn Key has provided services, including at the Oklahoma County Jail and the Cleveland County Jail. The company has also contracted with Tulsa County, Garvin County and many other counties in Oklahoma. In December, a Turn Key employee was among six people indicted by a federal grand jury for “deprivation of rights” and “deliberate indifference to medical needs” related to the death of Kayla Lee Turley.
Turn Key and certain employees have been sued in federal court for the 2022 death of Shannon Hanchett in the Cleveland County Jail. On Friday, Turn Key’s attorneys filed a notice of supplemental authority in the Hanchett case to ensure U.S. District Court Judge Charles Goodwin’s awareness of the new Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling. Goodwin is the third judge to handle the case after two prior judges recused.
Defendants in county jails are typically awaiting adjudication of their criminal cases, although in Oklahoma people convicted of certain crimes can be sentenced up to one year in a county jail. Many jail deaths stem from drug-related causes — including withdrawal during detention and access to contraband like fentanyl — inside of facilities. Health care providers play a key role in identifying at-risk detainees who may need acute medical attention or transport to a hospital for more significant services. A common a tort claim filed in jail death cases alleges that such care or referral is delayed in a way that contributes to a person’s demise.
