FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 11, 2026

OKLAHOMA CITY – Late this afternoon, after hearing arguments from all involved parties, the Presiding District Court Judge ordered detainee transport will resume tomorrow morning, and the transport will be done by the Sheriff’s Office. This ruling is the result of a court proceeding filed by the public defender’s office on behalf of a defendant that was set to be sentenced today and released. However due to the sheriff’s office not transporting detainees today, the defendant will have to spend another night in the detention center.

The situation reflects the broader concerns previously raised by the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office regarding the failure to transport detainees to scheduled court appearances. District Attorney Vicki Zemp Behenna previously warned that these disruptions would create a cascading impact across the criminal justice system in Oklahoma County. Behenna noted that when detainees are not brought to court as scheduled, the delays do not remain isolated to a single case, but instead affect multiple parts of the system, including the District Attorney’s Office, the Public Defender’s Office, the courts, victims, witnesses, and defendants.

Today alone, the Oklahoma County court system experienced significant disruption, with hundreds of subpoenas issued and dozens of preliminary hearings being rescheduled. In several cases, victims were unable to present victim impact statements as scheduled proceedings did not move forward because detainees were not transported to court.Today’s failure to transport resulted in preventable continuances across the docket, increasing costs to taxpayers and placing additional strain on already limited court resources. Those costs include repeated court appearances by both witnesses and law enforcement officers, all of whom are compensated for their time, with officers often requiring overtime pay to appear for proceedings that did not go forward. The delays also create a serious risk that witnesses may become unavailable, disengaged, or fail to appear for rescheduled hearings, further complicating prosecution efforts as cases become more difficult to pursue over time. Today alone, 79 in-custody defendants were directly impacted by the lack of transport from the jail to the courthouse, resulting in widespread disruption across scheduled proceedings.

Repeated delays in court proceedings negatively impact all parties involved in the criminal justice process and ultimately undermine the timely administration of justice.

The District Attorney’s Office remains committed to working with all justice system partners to reduce disruption, but the continued failure to transport detainees for scheduled court appearances is unsustainable and directly impacts the effective operation of the courts and violates the rights of defendants.

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