Tulsa County commissioners have voted to take over administrative duties for the county’s Family Center for Juvenile Justice.
Their unanimous decision after a meeting in executive session follows extensive abuse allegations and a civil rights lawsuit from 30 detainees. The state Office of Juvenile Affairs also placed the center on probation for the second time in as many years following a survey of the center that began in May.
Commissioner Stan Sallee confirmed Juvenile Affairs would shut down the center at the end of July without corrective action. The center has been run by Tulsa County Juvenile Judge Kevin Gray, who commissioners argue is mandated to oversee the facility per state law.
The commissioners also agreed to create a citizens advisory committee that will help them oversee the county. Commissioner Karen Keith confirmed Friday afternoon that the board was working to create the committee, which she envisions having seven members.
Commissioners on Friday morning appointed David Parker to oversee the center. Parker worked in the Oklahoma Department of Corrections for 30 years before he oversaw the David L. Moss Adult Detention Center from 2017 to 2020.
The center has been without a permanent director since Gray fired former director Anthony Taylor in May. Keith said at the time that the juvenile judge was also in charge of the center director’s employment.
Troubles at lockup
The juvenile center has been in the public eye since May, when Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice claimed the center had “a culture of negligence and incompetence.” The center leveled the accusations after detention officer Jonathan Hines was charged for allegedly having sex with a youth in their cell.
Gray fired Taylor shortly after attention was brought to the center.
A few weeks later, 21 detained youth filed a lawsuit against center employees and the county commissioners. The lawsuit accused them of either abusing or harassing the youth, or knowing about it and refusing to act. Thirty youth are now represented in the lawsuit.
Hines and officer Dquan Doyle, who was charged in June for alleged lewd acts with a youth in the center, are named defendants in the suit. Their charges prompted Homeland Security and Tulsa police to execute a search warrant on the city to corroborate possible additional evidence of misconduct at the center.
Who’s in charge?
Since attention was drawn to the center in May, commissioners and other county officials have argued state law has given Gray oversight of the center. But commissioners were briefed on the center’s status and made staffing recommendations in 2023.
Under Gray, the center was on probation for most of 2023 — issues included “youth being kept in their rooms/isolated, education concerns, and problems handling grievances and their resolutions,” according to the youth’s civil rights lawsuit. It was placed back on probation July 9 after members of Juvenile Affairs made multiple visits to the center and interviewed members of the county’s Juvenile Affairs division, including Gray.
Gray issued a statement July 10 arguing state law allows the commissioners to operate the center through a contract with Juvenile Affairs. The commissioners announced the following day they were going to recommend Gray’s replacement.
Sallee said commissioners opted to run the juvenile center after Juvenile Affairs members visited them Monday.
“They were going to shut this facility down, which was a no-starter for us. We want this facility to continue to operate. More than that, we want this facility to improve. The children deserve this, and we want more programs.”
Sallee said county commissions in other parts of Oklahoma have made similar, temporary decisions when local juvenile detention centers needed additional oversight.
“People have asked that before — ‘We don’t have jurisdiction, and here you are making a change, and you have jurisdiction.’ Well, as long as the OJA and the Juvenile Bureau are in sync with the bureau managing that, we don’t have any authority to engage in operations at the bureau. It is the bureau and the OJA,” Sallee said. “When a change is made like today, then we do have full authority to manage just the detention only.”
‘Are you prepared to effectively clean house if that’s what it takes?’
The commissioners’ other decision at the Friday meeting — to fill the open director position that oversees the juvenile center — was immediately met with questions from advocates and other officials.
While taking questions from media, Chief Public Defender Lora Howard asked if Parker was prepared to fire staff that were not performing their duties. Parker told Howard that as a manager, you’re “always prepared” to fire people who don’t do their jobs.
Howard clarified.
“Are you prepared to effectively clean house if that’s what it takes to make improvements?” Howard asked.
“I’m ready to manage the facility, and if that means I have to come in and work it by myself, that’s what I’ll do. But I don’t necessarily believe that everybody who works there is needing to be fired. Again, the same with every building. Your office, for example, probably has some people who don’t perform as well as others. Maybe they’re not in the right positions.”
“Well, I’ll be clear — my office doesn’t have any employee who’s abused a child. So my concern is, I understand that you are coming into this brand new, but we have detention officers as recently as last Thursday providing drugs to children. There is a cultural problem where children are being physically, sexually abused. They’re being denied access to food, they’re being denied access to medical care. The magnitude of the issue, in my opinion, is going to call for a giant change. I mean, we are not talking about minuscule issues, and we are not talking about one or two bad apples.”
Parker responded that he has “zero tolerance” for illegal behavior, and will deal with anyone who acts illegally “very swiftly.”
Sarah Gray, who is running on the Democratic ticket for Keith’s seat, asked Parker if he has any experience with justice-involved youth. Parker said he has dealt with youth in adult lockup, and has extensive experience with detention facilities generally.
“In my experience, management is probably what this place needs more than my experience working with juveniles,” Parker said.
Speaking to reporters, Parker said he had not been briefed on what’s happened in the center beyond news reports as of Friday morning. He said he plans to look at the center’s policies and procedures, and find ways to measure outcomes and goals.
Parker said he hopes to eventually get the center where it can be back under the juvenile judge’s supervision.
“The plan is to go in and get things started and get things transitioned eventually back,” he said.
