Question Submitted by: The Honorable Dana Prieto, Oklahoma State Senate, District 34

2024 OK AG 6
CourtOklahoma Attorney General Reports
DecidedApril 26, 2024
StatusUnpublished

This text of 2024 OK AG 6 (Question Submitted by: The Honorable Dana Prieto, Oklahoma State Senate, District 34) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oklahoma Attorney General Reports primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Question Submitted by: The Honorable Dana Prieto, Oklahoma State Senate, District 34, 2024 OK AG 6 (Okla. Super. Ct. 2024).

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Question Submitted by: The Honorable Dana Prieto, Oklahoma State Senate, District 34
2024 OK AG 6
Decided: 04/26/2024
Oklahoma Attorney General Opinions


Cite as: 2024 OK AG 6, __ __

ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION

2024-6

¶0 This office has received your request for an official Attorney General Opinion in which you ask, in effect, the following questions:
1. What are the responsibilities of the sheriff and the responsibilities of the Board of County Commissioners ("BOCC") pertaining to the funding, operation, and maintenance of the county jail?
2. What do the terms "maintenance" and "operation" include and who is financially responsible for each?
3. Are the requirements in title 57, section 51 (2021) of the Oklahoma Statutes, the sole responsibility of the BOCC?
4. Does the BOCC have a responsibility to provide funding for the requirements in title 57, section 51 (2021) of the Oklahoma Statutes, and should they be paid for from the county general fund?
5. Can the BOCC require the sheriff to fund the items in title 57, section 51 (2021) of the Oklahoma Statutes, without compensation?
6. If BOCC requires the sheriff to fund the responsibilities under title 57, section 51 (2021) of the Oklahoma Statutes, should he/she be allowed specific compensation to cover the expenses and if the answer is yes, to what extent shall the sheriff be compensated?
7. What responsibility, if any, does the BOCC possess regarding the funding of inmate meals and medical services for the county jail?
8. Are there items and requirements that are the sole financial responsibility of the BOCC with regards to the county jail and if so, what are they?
9. Does the county, either through the BOCC or the excise board have a duty to fund the jail at such a level it can be properly staffed at all times and what are the staffing requirements of a county jail and are the staffing requirements considered constitutional?
10. Is the operation and maintenance of the jail and sheriff's office constitutional? If the answer is yes, is it required that both be funded and if so, to what extent?

I.

SUMMARY

¶1 Oklahoma law mandates that every county have a county jail, established under the authority of the county commissioners and at the expense of the county, or access to a county jail in a neighboring county. 57 O.S.2021, § 41. The county sheriff is responsible for the daily operation and maintenance of the jail in a county that has established and operates a jail. As detailed below, the sheriff's duties include hiring and training jail personnel, transporting inmates to and from the jail, and providing bedding, meals, and medical care to the inmates. In addition to establishing the county jail, the BOCC must annually inspect the jail and fulfill its financial obligations to the jail. 57 O.S.2021, §§ 1, 51; 68 O.S.2021, § 3002. The latter duties include providing suitable means to warm the jail and make repairs as prescribed by the Department of Health, as well as collecting and submitting the annual needs of the jail to the county excise board. 57 O.S.2021, § 51; 68 O.S.2021, §§ 3002, 3004. Holding the final approval authority for appropriation of county funds, the county excise board possesses a duty to ensure the county jail is adequately funded. 19 O.S.2021 & Supp.2023, §§ 180.65, 3006--07.

¶2 The duty to operate and maintain the county jail, once established, includes construction, repair, upkeep, and other costs associated with keeping the jail functioning and operating for the well-being of the residents of the county and care of the inmates. Finally, the duties and responsibilities of counties to operate and maintain a county jail are statutory and constitutional. This requires that a county must prioritize funding the operations and maintenance of a county jail before appropriating funds for statutory and other non-constitutional purposes.

II.

BACKGROUND

¶3 The Oklahoma Constitution establishes Oklahoma's counties and creates county offices, including those of the county commissioners and sheriff. OKLA. CONST. art. XVII, §§ 1--2. Each of Oklahoma's seventy-seven counties is a political subdivision of the state and have been described by the Oklahoma Supreme Court as follows:

A county being an involuntary, subordinate political subdivision of the state, created to aid in the administration of governmental affairs of said state, and possessed of a portion of the sovereignty, has no inherent powers but derives those powers solely from the state. All of the powers intrusted [sic] to it are the powers of the sovereign[] which created it. Its duties are likewise the duties of the sovereign[].

Johnston v. Conner, 1951 OK 262, ¶ 7, 236 P.2d 987, 989 (quoting Herndon v. Anderson, 1933 OK 490, ¶ 16, 25 P.2d 326, 329).

¶4 Therefore, while the Oklahoma Constitution creates the two offices that are the subject of your inquiries--county sheriff and county commissioners--their duties and powers include those given by the Legislature, which may change. Tulsa Exposition & Fair Corp. v. Bd. of Cnty. Comm'rs, 1970 OK 67, ¶ 27, 468 P.2d 501, 508 (the Legislature has the authority to define the duties and powers of the several county officers and regulate county governmental affairs (citing Bd. of Comm'rs v. News-Dispatch Print. & Audit Co., 1924 OK 396, 231 P. 250)); see also Tulsa Exposition & Fair Corp., 1970 OK 67, ¶ 27, 468 P.2d at 508 ("Boards of County Commissioners derive their powers and authority wholly from the statutes, and acts performed by them must be done pursuant to authority granted by valid legislative action.").

¶5 Just as the Legislature may abolish or change the duties of county offices, as it did with the county superintendent of public instruction, it may also establish additional county offices and duties, like it has with the county excise board.

¶6 Against this backdrop, this office answers your questions by analyzing the various duties and functions of a BOCC, a county sheriff, and the county excise board, namely those under titles 19 and 57 of the Oklahoma Statutes concerning a county jail.

III.

DISCUSSION

A. The county commissioners may establish a county jail and if they do, the county commissioners have oversight and financial obligations concerning the county jail.

¶7 Generally, counties exercise their powers through the BOCC. The commissioners serve as the administrative unit of the county, have a variety of duties under title 19 of the Oklahoma statutes, and superintend the fiscal concerns of the county. 19 O.S.2021 & Supp.2023, §§ 3, 339, 345; FIXMECavin v. Bd. of Cnty. Comm'rsFIXME, 1934 OK 245, ¶ 11, 33 P.2d 477, 479; 2014 OK AG 15. It logically follows then that Oklahoma imposes certain obligations on the county commissioners relating to the establishment, expenses, and oversight of the county jail.

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Related

Johnston v. Conner
1951 OK 262 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1951)
Summey v. Tisdale
1982 OK 133 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1982)
Tulsa Exposition & Fair Corp. v. Board of County Commissioners
1970 OK 67 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1970)
Estate of Crowell Ex Rel. Boen v. Board of County Commissioners
2010 OK 5 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 2010)
KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN OF McALESTER v. SNELL
2014 OK 35 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 2014)
HEATH v. GUARDIAN INTERLOCK NETWORK, INC.
2016 OK 18 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 2016)
Herndon v. Anderson
1933 OK 490 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1933)
Cavin v. Board of Com'rs of Garfield County
1934 OK 245 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1934)
Protest of Kansas City Southern Ry. Co.
1932 OK 328 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1932)
Smart v. Board of County Com'rs of Craig County
1917 OK 590 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1917)
Board of Com'rs v. News-Dispatch Print. & Audit Co.
1924 OK 396 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1924)

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