The ongoing problems with the current county jail and the future of the next one are among the pressing issues Rep. Jason Lowe (D-OKC) or Jed Green will be grappling with if they win the Oklahoma County Board of Commissioners District 1 seat in the election April 1.
Lowe emerged from a field of three Democrats in the Feb. 11 winner-take-all special primary election. He received 40.63 percent support (4,244 votes). Former Sen. Anastasia Pittman finished with 31.73 percent support (3,315 votes), while Midwest City Councilwoman and criminal justice and human rights activist Sara Bana got 27.64 percent (2,887 votes).
Green did not face a primary challenger as an independent candidate, and no Republican filed to run in what is historically a Democratic district. The seat became open last year when Carrie Blumert resigned to become executive director of Mental Health Oklahoma.
District 1 covers a central part of Oklahoma County, including the core of Oklahoma City, and is bound by Jones, The Village, Del City and a portion of southwest OKC.
‘People are going to die’: Lowe lists jail as impetus to run
Jason Lowe, who has represented House District 97 since 2016, has consistently said in candidate forums that he got into the race because of the ongoing problems with the current Oklahoma County Jail and worries about the next one.
Lowe runs Lowe Law Firm and specializes in criminal defense. He said his experience as an attorney opened his eyes to the problems inside the current facility.
“The reason I am running for Oklahoma County District 1, which I never planned on running for, is the Oklahoma County Jail,” Lowe said in a forum earlier this year. “It is a mess. It is a place where people are actually going to die. I see every single day what is going on. I have seen first hand the bed bugs. I have seen the lack of mental health care. I have experienced the lack of heat. Not seen it on the news, I have experienced it. I am at the Oklahoma County Jail every other week.”
Jed Green has been involved in campaigns for years. He was part of the successful push for State Question 788, which legalized marijuana in the state for medical use back in 2018, and he says he worked on over 100 political campaigns from 2007 to 2016, including former President Barack Obama’s campaign in 2008.
Green said he wants to make sure county taxpayers are being treated fairly and getting their money’s worth.
“We’ve got a lot going on in Oklahoma County, and I wanted to hop in and see what I could do to help,” he said.
Green said the county jail is one example where things could be better.
“I think there is probably a lot more agreement than disagreement, but again, we need to make sure people are getting a fair shake. The county jail is an example of that,” Green said. “I haven’t seen much conversation about potential supplemental funding to pay for the new facility. That could come from the state. I think that makes sense, given that the jail incarcerates people from not just in OKC but elsewhere. It incarcerates people from multiple groups. I don’t think the county should bear all of the cost for that.”
Green said the new jail, which was approved by voters in 2022 with $260 million in bonds but now faces a $400 million funding gap, is another huge problem. Commissioners have floated the idea of a sales tax or a property tax increase to fully fund its construction. Green doubts either would be popular.
“I don’t see voters approving of either of those,” Green said. “There’s almost no chance they would.”
Green favors conducting arrest audits for the jail. He said it’s important to know who is in incarcerated and for what reasons. He also favors some measure of bail reform.
“If we look at the total of the parts, we need to take a real look at, and audit, arrests,” he said. “Who has been brought in and for what? An examination of that will show exactly what’s going on and reconcile some of the issues about bed space. We do need a new facility, but we also need to make sure we aren’t repeating the same mistakes.”
Lowe said one way to make the jail safer and ensure more efficient operations is to reduce its population. He said during a forum earlier this year that access to diversion programs is lacking and needs to be expanded.
“Right now, the [district attorney’s] office makes the determination whether a person gets into a program,” Lowe said. “We have one person, or one body, determining whether people get treatment. We have to open that up. I propose a board where there’s a defense attorney on the board, there’s the DA’s office, and also a private citizen. Right now, the DA’s office is the gatekeeper.”
Green: Jail has distracted commissioners from ‘basic needs’
Besides the jail, both candidates agreed infrastructure is one of Oklahoma County’s most pressing concerns.
Green said in many ways the conversation around the new jail and the current one has been all-consuming for county commissioners. He said that has come at the expense of other issues that need to be fixed.
“There’s always infrastructure issues, especially on the east side,” he said. “There’s always been roads and bridges with problems and even things like erosion in some places. One thing I find interesting is that the ARPA money exposed broader needs across the county. But until we get this jail situation fixed, our focus is not on what the basic needs are for Oklahoma County.”
Lowe also said that roads and bridges are a major problem within the county. He recalled a conversation with a man in a rural part of the district who said the roads by his house hadn’t been paved in 40 years.
“Roads and bridges would be No. 1,” Lowe said. “We also have to make sure the jail is fully funded, and we need to tackle homelessness through affordable housing.”
Lowe said financing is a barrier to affordable housing in the county.
“I would like to expand the Oklahoma County Housing Finance Program,” he said during a forum earlier this year. “I think that’s something we have to do. We also have to educate people on how to freeze their property taxes. I also believe that we have to educate, and the way to do that is to have forums and dialogue where we go across the district and let people know about the programs that are out there.”
