All Roll Calls
Yes: 222 • No: 29
OklahomaSB 595Oklahoma 2026 Regular SessionSenate
Jail standards; creating the Oklahoma Jail Standards Act. Emergency.
Sponsored By: Weaver
Signed by Governor
Senate Committee
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
14 provisions identified: 7 benefits, 1 costs, 6 mixed.
Full county jails get transfer deadlines
When a county jail reaches or exceeds legal capacity, county officials must notify the Department of Corrections. They must provide required judgment and sentence documents not already delivered. The county must transport designated excess inmates within 72 hours after notification to a facility selected by the Department. The Department must schedule and receive inmates within 72 hours unless other arrangements are made. Its transfer policy must offer county officials at least three alternative dates, account for weather and emergencies, and be available on request.
Jail inmates get basic daily necessities
Jails must provide clean bedding, hygiene items, washing facilities, food, and medical care when needed. Polyurethane foam mattresses, pads, and pillows are prohibited; mattresses must meet the standards. Inmates get at least three nutritionally adequate meals every 24 hours, including at least two hot meals. No more than 14 hours can pass between breakfast and the evening meal; hot meals must be served at 110–120°F. At booking or shortly afterward, inmates must be allowed two completed local or collect calls, with documentation. Unlimited access to working phones removes the two-call documentation requirement; otherwise refusals must be documented. Inmates held more than 24 hours receive jail clothing and a complete change at least weekly. Their street clothes and personal property must be inventoried and securely stored.
Jail inmates get supervision and separation
Jails must provide 24-hour supervision, control inmate movement, and search inmates entering or leaving secure areas. Inmates cannot supervise or exercise authority over other inmates. Electronic observation requires a communication system staffed around the clock and personnel able to respond to emergencies. Direct supervision requires a suitable building design and safety policies. Facilities must count inmates each shift and conduct a daily full lockdown count with visual inspection. Documented safety checks must occur at least every 60 minutes; video can substitute only with full, unobstructed views. Housing must separate male and female inmates, and both male and female officers must be available for sensitive procedures when both genders are housed. Written housing policies must separate threats and impaired inmates until a medical authority or administrator approves other housing. When possible, unsentenced inmates must be housed apart from sentenced inmates in the least restrictive safe setting. Race, color, creed, or national origin alone cannot determine separation.
Juveniles get approved facilities and separation
Regular juvenile detention placements must use facilities on the Health Department’s list of compliant facilities. The Department and Office of Juvenile Affairs must coordinate certification based on jail and juvenile-detention standards. Authorized juvenile housing must prevent sustained sight and sound contact with adult inmates and minimize other contact. Juvenile living areas require documented visual checks at least hourly, and juveniles must be able to contact staff at all times. Adult trustees cannot have sustained contact with juveniles.
Nonviolent inmates get overcrowding parole review
When all correctional facilities reach maximum capacity and the state must contract for beds, parole review is required. The Pardon and Parole Board must consider nonviolent offenders within six months of their scheduled release. Review does not guarantee parole or early release.
Oklahoma jails face statewide safety oversight
The Oklahoma Jail Standards Act takes effect upon passage and approval and sets statewide jail and lockup standards. The Health Commissioner must issue rules, and the Health Department must inspect detention facilities at least yearly. Inspection reports must list problems and state whether facilities substantially comply. Crimes found during inspections require complaints to district attorneys and cooperation with resulting prosecutions. Facilities must keep written operating policies covering intake, safety, discipline, appeals, grievances, food, visits, and training. Policies must name responsible staff, required steps, review schedules, and adoption and review dates. Facilities must report escapes, deaths, extensive property damage, and serious injuries or suicide attempts by the next working day. Injuries and attempts count as serious when life-threatening or requiring outside medical care. Sheriffs must follow jail rules and properly communicated court directions; sheriffs or designated staff must visit county jails monthly. Sheriffs or jailers who neglect or refuse their duties face fines of $10–$100 per case.
Jails must plan inmate medical care
Jails must provide adequate medical care and keep a written health care plan with a designated medical authority. The plan must cover intake health checks, medicines, health documentation, emergency referrals, and medical record handling. Qualified medical staff must work under proper on-site or off-site supervision, with written job duties. Medical or psychiatric needs can require separate housing.
County jails can deduct medical payments
County-operated jails can deduct collected medical payments from an inmate’s account for care received while incarcerated. The county sheriff must approve the deduction, which follows existing state medical-payment law. This provision does not state a deduction amount or payment formula.
Jail buildings get standards and flexibility
Cells and living areas need at least 40 square feet for the first inmate, plus 20 for each additional inmate. Housing and activity areas need at least 20 foot-candles of light, along with required plumbing, fire protection, and emergency exits. New jails and substantial remodels need Health Department plan approval and must meet standards in effect at that time. Remodeling is substantial when repair costs reach at least 50% of replacement costs. Counties can use barracks for minimum-security inmates and dormitories for inmates up to medium security. Dormitories need at least one toilet, washbasin, and shower per 20 inmates. Fire-safe temporary sleeping surfaces are allowed during overcrowding but do not replace required fixed sleeping surfaces. Temporary tent jails need Department approval and follow separate state minimum standards instead of the otherwise stated minimum requirements.
Jail exceptions come with detention limits
County, city, and town holding facilities can operate without full standards for stays of no more than 12 hours. An employee must be available to help or release an arrested person during a health- or life-threatening emergency. Lockups cannot hold someone longer than 10 days; longer stays require transfer to a detention facility. Counties, municipalities, and public trusts can seek standards waivers by showing undue hardship, including disaster-related emergencies. Requests must identify the rules involved, explain the hardship, and provide an inmate housing and care plan. The Health Department can approve all or part, deny requests, or require a compliance plan and timetable.
Jail staff get training and staffing rules
Jails holding 40 or fewer inmates at all times can operate with one detention officer. Jails holding more than 40 but fewer than 75 need multiple detention officers, or one officer plus another basic CLEET-certified person. CLEET certification is state law-enforcement training certification, and both staff members must be on the same premises. These staffing options require 24-hour observation, staffed communications, emergency response, and staff available for gender-sensitive procedures. Staff whose main duties include inmate supervision need at least 24 hours of approved training in their first year. Afterward, direct-contact staff need at least four hours of annual review and no more than eight hours of detention-officer training yearly. Required first-aid and CPR renewals also apply, and administrators must keep training and test-result logs.
Juvenile detention has strict time exceptions
Juveniles generally cannot be securely held in adult facilities or lockups; eligible juvenile placements need recorded prior permission. Temporary detention for identification, investigation, processing, parental release, or transfer is limited to six hours after initial custody. Certain nonapproved locations can securely hold juveniles for up to six hours for processing or transfer after specified felony-level charges or escapes. The escape exception covers escapes from juvenile training schools or Department of Human Services group homes. A juvenile arrested for or charged with a crime can also be held in an adult facility for six hours immediately before or after court. Sight and sound separation is required. Outside metropolitan statistical areas, this court-related limit can reach 24 hours, excluding weekends and holidays. That extension requires a legally required initial appearance within 24 hours, no acceptable alternative placement, and Department-confirmed separation. Juvenile facilities must provide communication and visit access, hourly documented visual checks, and backup when staff enter living areas. At least one entering staff member must be the same gender as the juvenile, except during life-threatening emergencies.
County jails get limited state reimbursement
The Department of Corrections must pay covered county jail housing and medical costs after judgment and sentence or final order until transfer. Payment uses a daily rate in state law; the provided text does not state its amount. The Department does not pay during a same-jurisdiction pending-charge hold when the county jail refuses transfer. For charges in another Oklahoma jurisdiction, payment ends at transfer there or the scheduled state transfer, whichever comes first. Counties can submit monthly invoices, but final payment requires the Department to receive the official judgment and sentence.
County jails get overflow contract opportunities
Before contracting with private prisons for needed state inmate beds, the Department of Corrections must notify all county jails. County sheriffs and jail trust administrators can voluntarily contract to house those inmates. Negotiated daily payments cannot fall below the rate in state law; the provided text does not state that amount. State funds for private prison developers or centers require legislative appropriation, and private detention construction requires legislative authorization.
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsor
Weaver
Affiliation unavailable
Cosponsors
David Hardin
Republican • House
Tim Turner
Republican • House
Roll Call Votes
House vote • 4/23/2025
EMERGENCY
Yes: 68 • No: 17
House vote • 4/23/2025
THIRD READING
Yes: 74 • No: 12
House vote • 4/17/2025
DO PASS
Yes: 12 • No: 0
House vote • 4/9/2025
DO PASS
Yes: 7 • No: 0
House vote • 4/9/2025
DO PASS
Yes: 7 • No: 0
Senate vote • 3/24/2025
THIRD READING
Yes: 46 • No: 0
Senate vote • 2/25/2025
Committee vote: Public Safety
Yes: 8 • No: 0
Bill Text
Enrolled (final version)
4/24/2025
Floor (House)
4/21/2025
House Committee Report
4/17/2025
House Policy Committee Report
4/9/2025
Engrossed
3/25/2025
Floor (Senate)
2/26/2025
Senate Committee Report
2/25/2025
Introduced
1/14/2025
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