prison system

Protesters on Monday pushed the Oklahoma County Jail Trust to postpone a discussion and potential vote on how to use more than $36 million in coronavirus relief funding until it hears from the public.

The protesters were angry most of the federal relief funds were recommended to be spent on the jail during a recent county budget board meeting.

The Oklahoma Department of Corrections reports 132 of its prisoners are infected with COVID-19.

The latest outbreak was at Cimarron Correctional Facility, a private prison in Cushing. The outbreak was discovered after a prisoner with symptoms tested positive for COVID at the end of last month. Shortly after multiple prisoners tested positive.

Department of Corrections data shows as of Friday, 21 prisoners inside the private prison had COVID and 103 others were in quarantine.

A 64-year-old man awaiting trial on drug and gun charges in the Oklahoma County Jail died on Tuesday after being transferred to a hospital and testing positive for COVID-19.

Clarence Merrell had been diagnosed with multiple chronic illnesses including COPD. Jail staff say he was transferred to the jail’s medical unit the day he entered the jail because he’d been having trouble breathing.

Jail administrator Greg Williams says Merrell was eventually sent to the hospital where he tested positive for COVID-19.

The exact cause of Merrell’s death has yet to be determined.

At least 33 prisoners in the Oklahoma County Jail have tested positive for COVID-19 and the jail has quarantined over 500 prisoners as a precaution.

The increase in COVID-19 cases comes after the jail’s new administration increased testing.

Jail Administrator Greg Williams believes there was only one known COVID case when the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority took charge of the jail from the county Sheriff’s Office on July 1.

"That’s what the staff and the inmates are telling me is that we’re doing a lot more testing," Williams said.