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Budget board urges jail trust to submit itemized invoices before payment
Summary
After finding a list of 17 unanswered questions and expressing concern that the jail trust might adopt a budget rather than submit an estimate of needs, the Oklahoma County Budget Board voted to recommend that the Criminal Justice Authority provide detailed, itemized invoices specifying whether expenses are constitutional before the county pays supplemental funds.
The Oklahoma County Budget Board voted April 1 to ask the Criminal Justice Authority (the jail trust) to provide detailed, itemized invoices when it submits requests for one‑time supplemental funds.
The action followed discussion about a list of 17 questions the board said it had provided to the trust but had not received answers to. Joe asked, “Did they ever reply to those questions?” and a county representative responded, “No, I have not. … no answer is no.” Board members warned that language on the trust’s agenda could allow the trust to adopt a budget for FY27 instead of merely submitting an estimate of needs — a step members said would be premature without knowing revenue sources.
Members pressed for clearer oversight while acknowledging the trust is an independent legal entity. To create more transparency before paying large sums, the board approved a motion recommending that the Criminal Justice Authority accompany any invoices for the recent one‑time allocation with a detailed breakdown of line items and documentation showing whether each expense is a constitutional (allowable) cost. The motion was moved, seconded and approved by voice vote.
Board members also discussed the timing of payments under county procedures: the clerk’s office reported an April 1 invoice could not be paid immediately because doing so would breach the county’s 90% spending restriction until additional funds are released. The board agreed the clerk and budget staff should receive a clearer invoice format so the Budget Board and the review committee can evaluate requests before authorizing payment.
Next steps: The Budget Board will transmit the recommendation to the Criminal Justice Authority and expects the trust to provide the requested itemized invoices. The motion did not include a recorded roll‑call of individual votes; the board approved it by general voice vote.
