OKLAHOMA CITY –
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“I had no idea what was going to transpire and certainly did not think that I was going to be relieved from the position,” Timmons told News 9 in an exclusive interview.
Following an executive session, the trust voted unanimously to accept his resignation.
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The OCCJA has not disclosed details of the decision, citing personnel matters. But Timmons believes it stemmed from an independent investigation into an alleged workplace threat—one executive accused of threatening another.
“I was not involved,” Timmons said. “I had knowledge of it, but I never had an opportunity to make a decision on the outcome of the investigation. I’ve never seen the report. I don’t know what it contains.”
Investigation and Fallout
The former Oklahoma Highway Patrol captain said he followed policy when he first learned of the allegation.
“I assured the employee that lodged the complaint that it would be investigated,” he said. “The next thing I knew, I was advised that an independent investigator from the district attorney’s office would be handling it. I placed the employee involved on administrative leave pending the outcome.”
Timmons believes the allegation—though investigated independently—ultimately cost him his job.
“I have no doubt that it is,” he said. “I don’t know what else it could be.”
Trustees have declined to comment on whether the investigation led to his dismissal.
Progress and Setbacks
Timmons said he came into the job determined to fix one of Oklahoma’s most troubled facilities. He set a ‘top 10 list’ of priorities, from inmate care to contraband crackdowns.
“In fact, the day I stepped down, they made a good-sized interdiction with cell phones and drugs,” Timmons said. “The week before that, they made another drug bust.”
For him, those raids showed progress was possible — though slow.
But progress also ran into a familiar obstacle: money.
“The detention center has not had an increase in funding for the last three years, ” he said. “That building is over 30 years old. There’s always something breaking down. Salaries, inmate care, constant repairs — it made it practically impossible to do a good job.”
Deaths Behind Bars
The Oklahoma County jail has long drawn scrutiny over inmate deaths, understaffing, and poor conditions. Timmons said many deaths stem from issues beyond the facility’s control.
Timmons pointed to underlying health issues, substance abuse, and mental illness among detainees—problems the jail isn’t staffed or equipped to handle.
“The jail is basically a holding facility,” he explained, “and the staff at the jail is just not adequate to treat what we see every day.”
Calls for Change
Timmons’ sudden exit has revived an old debate: Who should run the jail?
Some community groups argue the trust experiment has failed, and operations should return to the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office.
Mark Faulk with the People’s Council for Justice Reform pointed to nearly 60 inmate deaths in the past five years, calling the facility “the deadliest jail in America.”
“Without a major overhaul of the authority and management structure,” Faulk said, “there is no hope of creating a humane, constitutional, and safe environment.”
Timmons wouldn’t take a side but warned the problems won’t vanish with new management.
“Even if it does go back to the sheriff’s office, some of the same problems are still going to be there,” he said. “It’s going to take time, patience, funding, people and equipment to make it a better working environment.”
Timmons said he wanted to be an advocate for jail employees working long hours under tough conditions. He also stressed accountability: “When we found people that weren’t taking care of business, there was a consequence. And when we found people doing a good job, we recognized them.”
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