Public defender’s office speaks out after woman spends extra days in Oklahoma County Jail
By Jason Burger
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OKLAHOMA COUNTY, Oklahoma (KOCO) — The public defender’s office spoke out after a woman was released by a judge on Oct. 30, but she wasn’t physically allowed to walk out until days later.
Oklahoma County Public Defender Bob Ravitz said it’s a problem that keeps happening. In this case, a judge ordered a release on a Monday and the woman didn’t get out until a full week later.
Ravitz said Nikita Webb was in the Oklahoma County Jail on misdemeanor drug offenses. She pleaded guilty.
“Ms. Webb pleaded on a Monday, and the judge ordered her released,” Ravitz said.
She wasn’t released from jail that day. Jail staff told Ravitz they estimated she’d be released two days later, on a Wednesday, but that didn’t happen.
“By then, it was Friday. They assured us she would be released at that particular time, which was already two days late, based on their calculations,” Ravitz said. “They didn’t release her on Friday. We found out about it at 9 o’clock that following Monday.”
Seven days after Webb was released by a judge, she finally walked out of jail. Ravitz said he’s been in contact with staff there who are trying to speed up the releases.
He said the lack of adequate staffing at the jail seems to be the biggest factor in the problem. It takes extra time to process inmates.
Staff at the jail gave a statement saying, “We are going to talk about this issue next Monday, and we’re working on a solution.”
Ravitz said he thinks inmates should be released within two hours after a judge signs off. Webb walked free on Nov. 6.
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