Does an Oklahoma county sheriff have to transport jail inmates to and from court appearances when a jail trust operates the county jail?
Plain-English summary
The Oklahoma County Sheriff cannot stop transporting jail inmates to their court appearances. Attorney General Gentner Drummond answered a fast-moving local dispute the same way the statutes do: the sheriff has statutory custody of the jail's inmates, and getting them to court (and back) is part of that custody. Title 19 of the Oklahoma Statutes makes the sheriff responsible for "attending upon" the county's courts, and AG precedent treats inmate transport as part of that duty.
The wrinkle in Oklahoma County is the Jail Trust, the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority. Because Oklahoma County turned its jail over to a Title 60 public trust in 2019, the question was whether the sheriff's transportation duty also shifted to the Trust. The AG's answer: a Title 60 trust can only do what its indenture says it can do, and the Oklahoma County Jail Trust's indenture explicitly carved out inmate transport, courthouse detention, and courthouse security, leaving all three with the Sheriff. The Sheriff therefore cannot stop transporting inmates; the duty was never given to the Trust.
The Opinion's reach is narrow: it answers what the current indenture says, not what Oklahoma County or the Trust could renegotiate going forward.
What this means for you
If you are a county sheriff in Oklahoma
Inmate transport to and from court is part of your custodial duty under 19 O.S. § 513 and 57 O.S. § 47, and your duty to "attend upon" the courts under 19 O.S. § 514. You cannot unilaterally stop transporting inmates because of a budget dispute, a staffing complaint, or a quarrel with a jail trust. The Opinion treats inmate transport "pursuant to court-issued writs, orders, warrants, and judgments" as part of attending on the court.
If a public trust operates your jail, look at two documents to see whether some of the duty has shifted: the trust's enabling instrument (Title 19 trust under § 904.1, or Title 60 trust under § 176), and the trust indenture. Title 60 trusts (the more common form) can only assume duties expressly listed in the indenture. Anything the indenture omits stays with you.
If you sit on a county jail trust board
Your authority is bounded by your indenture, not by the broad language in 19 O.S. § 513.2. Section 513.2 generally transfers a sheriff's jail-related duties to the trust, but only to the extent the trust is authorized to carry them out (60 O.S. § 177.1). Two questions before assuming a duty:
- Did the indenture expressly authorize it?
- Did the indenture expressly exclude it (the Oklahoma County indenture excluded "transportation of any inmates or others in custody or in temporary confinement to and from the Oklahoma County Courthouse")?
If you want the Trust to assume inmate transport, the indenture has to be amended, with the governmental-agency consent required by 60 O.S. § 177.1.
If you are a county district attorney or county judge
A sheriff's announcement that he will stop transporting inmates is not a legal option under current Oklahoma law; the duty is mandatory. If you face that situation, this Opinion is the formal authority a court would expect to see. The Opinion does not address remedies, but the underlying statutes (Title 19 §§ 513, 514, 516) impose enforceable duties.
For scheduling and continuance practice: if a sheriff's transport refusal causes a defendant to miss a court appearance, the cause is the sheriff's noncompliance with statutory duty, not the defendant's. Detention-credit and speedy-trial calculations should reflect that.
If you represent a defendant held in an Oklahoma County jail (or another county with a jail trust)
If your client is held by the jail trust but is owed transport by the sheriff, the legal responsibility for getting them to court rests with the sheriff. A failure to transport is the sheriff's failure, not the trust's, in counties whose indenture mirrors Oklahoma County's. Document the cause of any missed appearance.
If you are an Oklahoma County resident or voter
The Sheriff cannot stop transporting inmates to court. The AG concluded that the duty stayed with the Sheriff when the Jail Trust was created, and the Sheriff remains "statutorily obligated to carry it out."
If you are advising a county considering a new jail trust
Pay close attention to which duties the indenture transfers and which it withholds. The default rule in 19 O.S. § 513.2 transfers the sheriff's jail-related duties to the trust, but only insofar as the trust is authorized to assume them (60 O.S. § 177.1). A vague or silent indenture leaves duties with the sheriff. If the goal is full operational handoff, the indenture has to be express on every duty being moved.
Common questions
Q: Can the Oklahoma County Sheriff refuse to transport inmates to court?
A: No. Oklahoma law requires the Sheriff to transport inmates in his custody to and from court appearances, and the Oklahoma County Jail Trust indenture left that duty with the Sheriff. The Opinion uses the language "statutorily obligated to carry it out."
Q: Who actually has custody of the inmates, the Sheriff or the Jail Trust?
A: The Jail Trust has operational custody for jail purposes (because the indenture authorized it to run the jail), but the Sheriff retained the duty to transport inmates to and from court and to provide courthouse security. The indenture expressly excluded those from the Trust's purposes.
Q: Could Oklahoma County change this by amending the indenture?
A: Potentially. Title 60 trust indentures can be amended with the consent of the creating governmental agency (the Board of County Commissioners). To shift the transport duty to the Trust, the indenture would need an express grant, and the Trust would need the funding and personnel to perform it.
Q: What's the difference between a Title 19 jail trust and a Title 60 jail trust?
A: Title 19 trusts have five specific trustees (the county sheriff is the chair) and can exercise only powers in Title 19. Title 60 trusts have a minimum of three trustees with details set by indenture, and can pursue any lawful county function, but cannot do anything outside what the indenture expressly authorizes. The Oklahoma County Jail Trust is a Title 60 trust.
Q: Does this Opinion only apply to Oklahoma County?
A: The legal framework applies statewide. The specific result, that transport stayed with the Sheriff, depends on the Oklahoma County Jail Trust indenture. A different county with a different indenture could have shifted transport to its trust. Each county-jail trust must be read on its own terms.
Q: What statutes set the Sheriff's transport duty?
A: Custody of jail inmates: 19 O.S. § 513 and 57 O.S. § 47. Duty to attend court: 19 O.S. § 514. Courthouse security: 19 O.S. § 516. Inmate-movement supervision: 74 O.S. § 192.6(A). The 1999 OK AG 14 opinion summarized these as requiring the sheriff to "get the prisoners to court and back to jail."
Q: What happens if the Sheriff doesn't comply?
A: This Opinion does not lay out an enforcement mechanism, but a sheriff's refusal to perform a mandatory statutory duty could expose the office to a writ of mandamus, contempt findings if a court order is involved, or removal proceedings. AG opinions are binding on public officials under 74 O.S. § 18b unless and until set aside by a court.
Background and statutory framework
Oklahoma counties run their jails one of two ways: directly through the county (with the sheriff in charge under 19 O.S. § 513 and 57 O.S. § 47), or through a public trust authorized by 19 O.S. § 513.2 to step into the sheriff's shoes. Two trust structures exist. Title 19 trusts (19 O.S. §§ 904.1–904.3) are created either by a public vote or by act of the county commissioners; they have a fixed five-member structure chaired by the sheriff and limited to Title 19's enumerated powers. Title 60 trusts (60 O.S. §§ 176, 177.1, 178) are more flexible: minimum three trustees, structure set by indenture, broad permissible purposes, but bounded by the indenture itself under § 177.1.
Oklahoma County created the Jail Trust in 2019 as a Title 60 trust against a backdrop of "serious issues" at the county jail (deaths, escapes, overcrowding, federal DOJ oversight). The indenture (Article IV) listed the Trust's specific powers and concluded with a "carve-out": "The [Jail Trust] will not perform on behalf of [Oklahoma County] any duties that are specifically and exclusively reserved by existing law to a sheriff, jailer, undersheriff, or deputy sheriff[.]" The carve-out was then made concrete in Article IV(7), which excluded from the Trust's purposes (1) custody at the courthouse detention facility, (2) courthouse security, and (3) "transportation of any inmates or others in custody or in temporary confinement to and from the Oklahoma County Courthouse."
The Trust Estate provision (Article VI(2)) further reinforced the line by excluding the Courthouse and its holding/detention areas from the Trust Estate.
In April 2026 the Sheriff publicly announced he would discontinue daily inmate transport to and from the Courthouse. The District Attorney sought this Opinion to settle the legal question on a fast track. The AG's analysis combined three statutory sources (Title 19 sheriff duties; Title 19 jail-trust step-in; Title 60 trust-power limits) with the indenture's text to reach the conclusion that the transport duty never left the Sheriff.
Citations and references
Statutes:
- 19 O.S.2021, § 513 (Sheriff's charge of jail and prisoners)
- 19 O.S.2021, § 513.2 (Jail-related duties imposed on public trust)
- 19 O.S.2021, §§ 514, 516 (Sheriff attending court; courthouse security)
- 19 O.S.2021, §§ 904.1–904.3 (Title 19 jail trusts)
- 57 O.S.2021, § 41 (County jail responsibility)
- 57 O.S.Supp.2025, § 47 (Sheriff custody of jail)
- 60 O.S.2021, §§ 176, 177.1, 178 (Title 60 public trusts)
- 74 O.S.Supp.2025, § 192.6(A) (Inmate-movement supervision)
Cases:
- Tulsa Cnty. Deputy Sheriff's F.O.P., Lodge 188 v. Bd. of Cnty. Comm'rs of Tulsa Cnty., 1998 OK 44, 959 P.2d 979
Prior AG opinions:
- 1999 OK AG 14
- 2004 OK AG 17
- 2007 OK AG 35
Other authority cited:
- 80 C.J.S. Sheriffs and Constables § 67 (Apr. 2026 Update)
Source
- Landing page: https://oklahoma.gov/oag/opinions/ag-opinions/2026/8.html
- Original PDF: https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/oag/opinions/ag-opinions/2026/A.G. Opinion 2026-8.pdf
Original opinion text
GENTNER DRUMMOND
ATTORNEY GENERAL
ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION
2026-8
The Honorable Vicki Zemp Behenna
District Attorney, Oklahoma County
211 N. Robinson Ave., Ste. N700
Oklahoma City, OK 73102
May 11, 2026
Dear District Attorney Behenna:
This office has received your request for an Attorney General Opinion in which you ask,
in effect, the following questions:
1. Does Oklahoma law require the county sheriff to transport inmates between the
county jail and the county courthouse for the inmates' court appearances?
2. If the answer to Question #1 is yes, what effect, if any, does the Trust Indenture
governing the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority (the "Jail Trust")
have on the legal obligations of the Oklahoma County Sheriff?
I.
SUMMARY
Under Oklahoma law, a county sheriff has custody of inmates in the county jail and, as such, is
obligated to transport them to and from the courthouse as needed for court appearances. In counties
that have turned over jail operations to a public trust, the sheriff's jail-related duties are imposed
instead upon the public trust, depending on the terms of the trust instrument. In the case of the Jail
Trust, the trust indenture explicitly reserved to the Oklahoma County Sheriff the duty to transport
inmates to the courthouse and back.
II.
BACKGROUND
In Oklahoma, "[e]very county, by authority of the board of county commissioners and at the
expense of the county, shall have a jail or access to a jail in another county for the safekeeping of
prisoners lawfully committed." 57 O.S.2021, § 41. In most cases, the county jail is operated by the
county itself, with the sheriff having "the charge and custody of the jail . . . and all the prisoners
in the same[.]" 19 O.S.2021, § 513; see also 57 O.S.Supp.2025, § 47. However, Oklahoma law
also permits a county to carry out its jail-related duties through a public trust. See 2007 OK AG
35, ¶ 1, 2004 OK AG 17, ¶ 1; see also 19 O.S.2021, § 513.2. Such a trust may be created via public
vote pursuant to title 19, section 904.1 of the Oklahoma Statutes, or by act of the board of county
commissioners pursuant title 60, section 176. See Tulsa Cnty. Deputy Sheriff's F.O.P., Lodge 188
v. Bd. of Cnty. Comm'rs of Tulsa Cnty., 1998 OK 44, ¶¶ 15-17, 959 P.2d 979, 981-82.
In 2019, the Board of County Commissioners for Oklahoma County (the "Board") created the Jail
Trust as a title 60 trust, with Oklahoma County as the beneficiary. See Trust Indenture creating
The Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority, art. I (as amended June 12, 2019) (hereafter,
"Trust Indenture"). The Jail Trust's creation was preceded by "a history of serious issues" at the
Oklahoma County jail, "including deaths, escapes, overcrowding and maintenance problems," as
well as federal oversight by the U.S. Department of Justice. Kayla Branch, Oklahoma County Jail
Trust Created to Address Issues, Questions Remain, THE OKLAHOMAN (May 23, 2019). Broadly
speaking, the Jail Trust's purposes consist of financing and acquiring property for jail facilities
and owning and operating such facilities. See TRUST INDENTURE, art. IV. The Jail Trust is overseen
by nine trustees: One Board member, the Oklahoma County Sheriff, one appointee by each of the
three Board members, and four appointees chosen by a majority vote of the Board. Id., art. VII.
The Jail Trust's chair is chosen by majority vote of the non-elected trustees. Id., art. VII(3).
Without getting into details of its performance over the past seven years, suffice it to say the Jail
Trust faces ongoing scrutiny. See, e.g., Nolan Clay, Oklahoma County Officials Call in 6-1 Vote
for Jail Trust to be Disbanded, THE OKLAHOMAN (Mar. 18, 2026). Most recently, the Oklahoma
County Sheriff notified the Jail Trust that his deputies would soon discontinue daily transportation
of inmates from the Oklahoma County jail to the Oklahoma County courthouse and back for
regular court appearances. Richard Mize, Oklahoma County Sheriff to Stop Jail Detainee
Transport, THE OKLAHOMAN (Apr. 13, 2026). Given the practical and legal ramifications of any
delay in a criminal defendant's appearance before the court, this office prioritized this Opinion to
give prompt guidance to the parties involved.
III.
DISCUSSION
A. The county sheriff is required by statute to transport inmates in his or her custody to
and from court appearances.
As noted above, by statute a sheriff has custody over inmates in the county jail. 19 O.S.2021, §
513; 57 O.S.Supp.2025, § 47. This custodial responsibility includes transportation of inmates when
necessary. See, e.g., 74 O.S.Supp.2025, § 192.6(A) ("The movement of inmates from one location
to another shall be controlled and supervised by staff."). Likewise, the sheriff is obligated to
"attend upon the several courts of record held in his county," and "coordinate and administer
courthouse security." 19 O.S.2021, §§ 514, 516. Together, "[t]hese statutes generally require that
the sheriff take care of the prisoners in his or her custody and get the prisoners to court and back
to jail when the prisoners remain in custody." 1999 OK AG 14, ¶ 3; see also 80 C.J.S. Sheriffs and
Constables § 67 (Apr. 2026 Update) ("A county sheriff's transportation of prisoners pursuant to
court-issued writs, orders, warrants, and judgments of conviction constitutes 'attending on the
court.'").
B. The Trust Indenture did not modify the Oklahoma County Sheriff's duty to transport
inmates to the Oklahoma County courthouse and back to the Oklahoma County jail.
Where a public trust is created to operate a county jail, the role of the sheriff is less straightforward.
Oklahoma law provides that in such situations:
For the purposes of any jail facility . . . every reference in statute or rule to any duty
or responsibility imposed upon the sheriff . . . to operate, manage or provide any
service to any person in the custody of such facility . . . shall be deemed applicable
to and imposed upon the public trust . . . who by contract or otherwise legally
operates or manages such jail facility.
19 O.S.2021, § 513.2(A). In other words, "[t]he trust steps into the shoes of the county and the
sheriff for the purpose of operating the county jail [and] has the same duties as a jail operated by
the county itself through the sheriff[.]" 2004 OK AG 17, ¶ 4.
However, a public trust created under title 60 may exercise no greater authority than what is
granted in the instrument by which it is created. See 60 O.S.2021, § 177.1 ("[N]o public trust shall
engage in any activity or transaction that is not expressly authorized in the instruments or articles
prescribing its creation except by express consent of the governmental agency…that created [it].").
So, while title 19, section 513.2 imposes a sheriff's jail-related duties onto a jail trust, the trust
may assume only those duties that it is authorized to carry out. As a result, the Trust Indenture
dictates which of the Oklahoma County Sheriff's duties were imposed upon the Jail Trust.
It is clear from the Trust Indenture that transportation of jail inmates to and from the courthouse,
and supervision of inmates while in the courthouse, were intentionally left to the Oklahoma County
Sheriff. Article IV of the Trust Indenture sets forth the purposes of the Jail Trust, including several
"specific powers or purposes" in furtherance of the "general objective" of owning and operating
the Oklahoma County jail. TRUST INDENTURE, art. IV(1). That list of specific powers concludes
with this: "The [Jail Trust] will not perform on behalf of [Oklahoma County] any duties that are
specifically and exclusively reserved by existing law to a sheriff, jailer, undersheriff, or deputy
sheriff[.]" Id., art. IV(1)(g). Then, article IV concludes by specifically excluding from the Jail
Trust's purposes (1) custody over inmates at the courthouse detention facility, (2) courthouse
security, and (3) "transportation of any inmates or others in custody or in temporary confinement
to and from the Oklahoma County Courthouse[.]" Id., art. IV(7) (emphasis added).
In addition, when outlining the Jail Trust's trust estate, the Trust Indenture provides: "The Trust
Estate shall under no circumstances consist or be deemed to consist of … [t]he Oklahoma County
Courthouse or its holding/detention areas or facilities." TRUST INDENTURE, art. VI(2).
In short, under Oklahoma law the Jail Trust cannot engage in activities not specifically authorized
by the Trust Indenture. And the Trust Indenture is clear that transportation of inmates between the
Oklahoma County courthouse and the Oklahoma County jail is not an authorized activity of the
Jail Trust. Accordingly, that duty is left to the Oklahoma County Sheriff and he is statutorily
obligated to carry it out.
It is, therefore, the official Opinion of the Attorney General that:
1. Oklahoma law requires the county sheriff to transport inmates in his or her custody
to and from court appearances.
2. The Trust Indenture creating The Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority did
not modify the Oklahoma County Sheriff's legal duty to transport inmates to and
from the Oklahoma County courthouse for court appearances.
GENTNER DRUMMOND
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF OKLAHOMA
ETHAN SHANER
DEPUTY GENERAL COUNSEL
Finally, it is also worth noting that the current sheriff's predecessor was an original trustee for the
Jail Trust and, in that capacity, was aware of the terms of the Trust Indenture and accepted these
terms on behalf of that office. See TRUST INDENTURE, Preamble, art. XII.