Oklahoma County Detention Center

The Oklahoma County Detention Center (OCDC) at 201 North Shartel Avenue in downtown Oklahoma City is the main jail for Oklahoma County, the state's most populous county. It is operated by the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority (OCCJA), an independent trust that took over jail operations from the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office in 2020. With a daily inmate capacity of more than 2,800, more than 23,000 annual bookings, and over 300 staff, OCDC is one of the largest local detention facilities in the region. The facility has been the subject of years of scrutiny over in-custody deaths, staffing shortages, and structural problems in the aging 1991 building, and Oklahoma County voters approved a bond issue for a replacement jail that is now in planning and design phases. For families with a loved one held at OCDC, this guide covers video visitation through NCIC, digital mail through NCIC Mail and Scanning, Consolidated Banking deposits, and how to navigate the current jail operations while the county plans the new facility.

About OCDC and the OCCJA

The Oklahoma County Detention Center opened in 1991 in downtown Oklahoma City, and for nearly three decades the facility was operated by the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office. In 2020, following years of documented problems including in-custody deaths, structural issues in the building, and public pressure for reform, Oklahoma County voters approved a change in governance and the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority took over operations. The OCCJA is an independent public trust with its own administrator and staff, though the sheriff's office continues to handle inmate transports and certain other functions.

The 1991 building itself has been part of the challenge — the design was widely criticized as difficult to staff and to maintain, and the aging plumbing, elevators, and HVAC systems have contributed to operational disruptions. Oklahoma County voters approved a bond issue for a replacement jail, and planning for that new facility has been ongoing, though the current OCDC will remain in operation for years while the new jail is designed and built. Families should expect the current mail, visitation, and deposit vendors and rules to remain in place for the foreseeable future, with the understanding that the new jail will bring its own set of vendors and policies.

OCDC holds a mostly pretrial population — people arrested by Oklahoma City Police, the Sheriff, and other law-enforcement agencies in Oklahoma County who are awaiting court on state and county charges — along with people serving short county sentences and various state and federal holds. Each inmate has a booking number assigned at intake, and that number, plus the full legal name used at booking, is required on every letter, deposit, and video-visit registration.

Video visitation through NCIC Communications

OCDC has moved entirely to video visitation through NCIC Communications — there is no in-person visitation. Both remote video visits from home and on-site video visits at kiosks in the jail lobby are available. Remote visits carry a per-minute charge; on-site visits at the jail are typically free or lower-cost. To use the service, register at NCIC's video visitation portal and complete the visitor profile (visitors are subject to a background review). Once approved, you can schedule visits during your loved one's housing-unit availability windows.

The video-only model has been a significant change for families accustomed to older in-person jail visits and does require some technical setup on the family's end — a reliable internet connection, a device with a working camera and microphone, and a private, well-lit space with a neutral background. Follow the platform's on-screen rules about dress, background, and behavior; violations can end the visit and result in sanctions to the inmate's visiting privileges.

Digital mail through NCIC Mail and Scanning

Since November 1, 2023, OCDC has processed all non-legal, non-medical personal mail through NCIC Mail and Scanning, a postal-scanning service. Personal mail is not delivered to inmates on paper — instead, family and friends send letters to NCIC's processing center, which opens and scans the envelope and delivers scanned images to the inmate on a jail tablet or kiosk. Confirm the current NCIC mailing address on OCDC's website or the sheriff's inmate services page before sending, since scanning-vendor PO Box addresses change with contracts.

Because everything is scanned, there is no point sending stamps, decorated cards, cardstock, or anything with texture; a single-sided white sheet of paper with pen or clear print reads best after scanning. Photos are scanned in color. Do not send the letters to the jail's physical address at 201 North Shartel — personal mail sent to the jail directly will be rejected. Legal mail from an attorney or court, clearly marked as legal correspondence, still goes to the jail's physical address and is opened in the inmate's presence, along with certain medical correspondence. Our how to send mail to an inmate covers the scanned-mail model in more depth.

How to send money to an OCDC inmate

OCDC directs money orders to be sent to Consolidated Banking, and additional deposit options (online, phone, and kiosk) are documented on the Oklahoma County Sheriff's inmate deposits page at sheriff.oklahomacounty.org/189. Confirm the current mailing address and vendor before sending, and use the inmate's full legal name and booking number on any deposit slip or memo. Deposits fund the trust account used for commissary and communications. Standard per-transaction fees apply for electronic deposits.

Balances stay with the inmate during OCDC custody and are returned at release. If your loved one is transferred to Oklahoma Department of Corrections state prison after sentencing, the balance is refunded and you re-fund the new DOC trust account separately — note that Oklahoma DOC has moved to its own digital mail platform system that families should familiarize themselves with at that point.

Court dates, bond, and release

Oklahoma County criminal cases are handled through the District Court of Oklahoma County, and case records including bond status, next-court dates, and dispositions are searchable through the Oklahoma State Courts Network (OSCN) at oscn.net. Bond decisions in Oklahoma can be handled through commercial surety with a licensed Oklahoma bail bond company (typically for a 10 percent non-refundable premium), through cash bond, or, in some cases, on personal recognizance. If your loved one has been booked, look them up on the OCDC inmate search and use OSCN to check the case status.

Emergencies, safety concerns, and advocacy

For urgent family emergencies such as a death, serious illness, or birth, call OCDC at (405) 907-1930 or (405) 504-6811, or email questionsocdc@okcountydc.net, with the inmate's name and booking number and ask that the CARE Unit or unit staff relay the message. OCDC operates a CARE Unit specifically for family support, which is a useful first point of contact for non-emergency concerns as well.

If you are worried about a loved one's medical care, mental health, or safety inside, contact OCDC directly, document the concern in writing, and escalate through OCCJA leadership if the initial response is inadequate. Advocacy organizations that have been active on Oklahoma County jail issues include the Oklahoma chapter of the ACLU, Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform, and various local groups. Because in-custody deaths at OCDC have been a documented concern, families should not hesitate to raise medical or safety issues promptly and to keep written records.

Avoiding scams

Third-party sites sometimes claim to offer inmate locate services, cheaper phone calls, or expedited deposits for a fee. OCDC's own inmate search, NCIC for video visits and mail, and the deposit routing on the sheriff's inmate deposits page are the authoritative and only fully reliable channels. Paying an unfamiliar site for something OCDC or its named vendors provide directly is a common way families lose money. When guidance online conflicts with what OCDC tells you, trust OCDC.

The gap between what this jail was built for and what it holds

Most jails report a rated capacity close to their design capacity. This one does not. The federal census recorded a design capacity of 1,207 against a rated capacity of 2,890 — the jurisdiction says it can hold well over twice what the building was drawn for. Its peak population that year, 1,810, was already 50% above the design figure. A gap that size is the clearest structural explanation for crowding, and it does not resolve itself: it is a decision about how many people to put in a fixed building.

If you are trying to reach someone in custody, these are the facilities that actually hold people:

• Oklahoma County Jail, Oklahoma City

Someone taken to hospital from one of those facilities remains in custody the whole time, and remains booked there. So the place to ask about them is the facility holding them, not the hospital — the hospital will not confirm a patient in custody, and the custody record does not move when the person does.

How much room the Oklahoma County Detention Center has

The federal jail census gives three different capacity figures for the Oklahoma County Detention Center, and the gaps between them are the useful part. In its 2019 count the facility had a design capacity of 1,207 and a rated capacity of 2,890. Its highest population during that reporting year was 1,810. The design figure is what the building was drawn for, the rated figure is what the jurisdiction says it can hold, and the peak is what actually happened.

A jail whose peak exceeds its design capacity is common and is not on its own a sign of a crisis, but it explains conditions families notice without being given a reason: temporary bunks in dayrooms, slower medical and dental response, and visits that get shortened or cancelled when the building is under pressure.

The same count recorded 1,285 adult men and 269 adult women held at the facility. A jail holding both means separate housing, and often separate visiting and program schedules, inside one building — which is a common reason two people booked the same day end up on different routines.

These are census figures for 2019, so they describe that year rather than today. Treat them as the scale of the facility and confirm anything current with the sheriff's office.

Who was held at the Oklahoma County Detention Center

On the day of the 2019 federal jail census, the Oklahoma County Detention Center held 1,554 adults: 1,285 men and 269 women.

Women were 17% of that count. Jails typically run separate housing for men and women, and the smaller side of the population often means fewer program places, fewer visiting slots and less movement — a practical disadvantage that rarely gets stated anywhere.

The census also recorded this as a facility that holds people beyond 72 hours, rather than a short-term lockup that transfers everyone onward almost immediately. That matters for planning: it means someone can serve a full short sentence here, and that mail, deposits and visiting are worth setting up rather than waiting out.

These are census figures for a single reporting year and are now several years old. Treat the split as the shape of the population rather than a current count.

How the Oklahoma County Detention Center compares with other jails in Oklahoma

The 2019 federal jail census counted 91 jails in Oklahoma. Ranked by rated capacity, the Oklahoma County Detention Center was the 1st largest of them, at 2,890 beds.

That puts it among the largest jails in the state, and size changes the experience in ways worth anticipating. Big jails run more formalised systems — scheduled visiting slots that fill, classification that moves people between units, and phone and deposit vendors handling enough volume that the process is automated rather than personal. You will generally get further by following the published procedure exactly than by asking staff to make an exception.

This ranking covers only the jails the census counted, and reflects that one reporting year. It is a guide to scale, not a current league table.

What the Oklahoma County Detention Center is set up to do

The federal jail census records each facility's designated functions — the roles it is set up and authorised to perform. In its 2019 count, the Oklahoma County Detention Center was recorded as holding adults awaiting trial or serving a sentence, holding people awaiting return to probation or parole custody, running a work release program, acting as a reception or intake centre for other facilities, holding juveniles, operating as a dedicated medical facility, operating as a dedicated mental health facility and holding people in protective custody.

These designations come from the 2019 census, so treat them as the facility's established role rather than a current service list.

Before you travel or send anything

Whatever a directory tells you — including this one — confirm the detail that matters to you with the operating agency before acting on it. Facility names, operators, designations and even addresses change, sometimes years before public records catch up, and the cost of acting on a stale entry is a wasted journey, a returned parcel or a deposit sent to the wrong account. A single phone call the morning you travel is worth more than any amount of research the week before.

If a search for someone returns nothing at all, work through the possibilities in order before assuming the worst. They may be held by a different authority than the one you are searching — a county sheriff rather than a state department, or the reverse. They may be in transit between facilities and temporarily unlisted. The name on the record may differ from the one you use, particularly where a middle name, a suffix or a hyphenated surname is involved. Or the record may simply not have updated yet, which is common in the first day or two after an arrest or a move. An empty result is far more often a search problem than a sign that something has gone wrong.

Your first steps if a loved one is booked into OCDC

If someone you love has just been booked into the Oklahoma County Detention Center, focus first on the essentials: write down the booking number and confirm through the OCDC inmate search, register with NCIC for video visits and complete visitor approval, fund an initial deposit through Consolidated Banking or the sheriff's deposit page, and mail through NCIC's scanning PO Box (verify the current address on OCDC's website). Look up the case number on OSCN and, if bond is set, work with a licensed Oklahoma bail bondsman. If your loved one is transferred to Oklahoma DOC after sentencing, our guides on life after prison, finding work after prison, and applying for SNAP, Medicaid, and TANF after release cover what comes next as a release date approaches.