Housing Status [DRAFT]

Oklahoma County Detention Center Population Report

This report focuses on the people in the Oklahoma County Detention Center (OCDC) who indicated during the booking process that they were unhoused. It is based on a recent “snapshot” of the jail’s roster at a single moment in time, as well as data from the past years’ booking and release events.

Author

Andrew Bell

Published

July 6, 2026

Publication Note
DRAFT REPORT – NOT FOR PUBLICATION

1 Data / Methodology

The data for this report come from the Oklahoma County Detention Center’s (OCDC) JailTracker information system. Data includes information on all people booked into OCDC custody through July 06, 2026 at 11:53 AM.

OCDC collects data on housing status from each person booked into the jail. We impute whether each person was unhoused at the time of their booking by assessing their given address – if they gave their address as “homeless”, “unhoused”, “0000000”, “transient”, etc., our methodology counts them as being unhoused. Otherwise, they are counted as housed.

2 Housing Status: Current Population

Of the 1,615 people currently in OCDC custody as of July 06, 2026 at 11:53 AM, we identified 254 (or 15.73% of the total) as unhoused at the time of their booking.

2.1 Current Population: Demographics

The following tables provide demographic details of the unhoused population at OCDC at a single point in time.

OCDC Population by Housing Status and Race
Snapshot population as of July 06, 2026 at 11:53 AM
Race Housed Unhoused Total
American Indian 9 (0.7%) 2 (0.8%) 11 (0.7%)
Asian Pacific Islander 12 (0.9%) 3 (1.2%) 15 (0.9%)
Black 606 (44.5%) 108 (42.5%) 714 (44.2%)
Hispanic 201 (14.8%) 21 (8.3%) 222 (13.7%)
Middle Eastern 5 (0.4%) 1 (0.4%) 6 (0.4%)
Native American 47 (3.5%) 14 (5.5%) 61 (3.8%)
Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander 2 (0.1%) NA (-) 2 (0.1%)
Unknown 5 (0.4%) 1 (0.4%) 6 (0.4%)
White 474 (34.8%) 104 (40.9%) 578 (35.8%)
Total 1,361 (100.0%) 254 (100.0%) 1,615 (100.0%)
Source: OK Policy Institute analysis of data from the Oklahoma County Detention Center's 'Jailtracker' system.
Note: Demographic categories are as recorded by OCDC staff.
OCDC Population by Housing Status and Gender
Snapshot population as of July 06, 2026 at 11:53 AM
Gender Housed Unhoused Total
Female 209 (15.4%) 31 (12.2%) 240 (14.9%)
Male 1,152 (84.6%) 222 (87.4%) 1,374 (85.1%)
Other NA (-) 1 (0.4%) 1 (0.1%)
Total 1,361 (100.0%) 254 (100.0%) 1,615 (100.0%)
Source: OK Policy Institute analysis of data from the Oklahoma County Detention Center's 'Jailtracker' system.
Note: Demographic categories are as recorded by OCDC staff.
OCDC Population by Housing Status and Age
Snapshot population as of July 06, 2026 at 11:53 AM
Age Group Housed Unhoused Total
25 & Under 234 (17.2%) 22 (8.7%) 256 (15.9%)
25-35 398 (29.2%) 66 (26.0%) 464 (28.7%)
35-45 402 (29.5%) 89 (35.0%) 491 (30.4%)
45-55 215 (15.8%) 45 (17.7%) 260 (16.1%)
55-65 84 (6.2%) 26 (10.2%) 110 (6.8%)
Over 65 28 (2.1%) 5 (2.0%) 33 (2.0%)
No Data / Unknown NA (-) 1 (0.4%) 1 (0.1%)
Total 1,361 (100.0%) 254 (100.0%) 1,615 (100.0%)
Source: OK Policy Institute analysis of data from the Oklahoma County Detention Center's 'Jailtracker' system.
Note: Demographic categories are as recorded by OCDC staff.

2.2 Current Population: Days Detained

The graph below shows how long each person currently in OCDC custody has been held there, broken out by housing status. The boxes denote the 25th - 75th percentiles (i.e. half of the total falls within those values), and the vertical lines denote the median value in each group.

OCDC Population: Days Detained by Housing Status
Snapshot population as of July 06, 2026 at 11:53 AM
Days Detained Housed Unhoused Total
< 24 Hours 41 (3.0%) 5 (2.0%) 46 (2.8%)
24 Hours - 7 Days 172 (12.6%) 29 (11.4%) 201 (12.4%)
7 Days - 30 Days 304 (22.3%) 50 (19.7%) 354 (21.9%)
30 - 100 Days 380 (27.9%) 76 (29.9%) 456 (28.2%)
100 - 365 Days 346 (25.4%) 64 (25.2%) 410 (25.4%)
1 Year+ 118 (8.7%) 29 (11.4%) 147 (9.1%)
No Data / Unknown NA (-) 1 (0.4%) 1 (0.1%)
Total 1,361 (100.0%) 254 (100.0%) 1,615 (100.0%)
Source: OK Policy Institute analysis of data from the Oklahoma County Detention Center's 'Jailtracker' system.

2.3 Current Population: Security Classification and Pretrial Status

People held in OCDC custody are assigned a security classification of “minimum”, “medium”, or “maximum” security. It is determined on the basis of the charges they are accused of and the ongoing observations of the jail staff, and can be changed over time. It often takes 24-48 hours for this to be determined; recent bookings that haven’t yet been assigned a security classification are marked “No Data / Unknown”.

OCDC Population by Housing Status and Security Level
Snapshot population as of July 06, 2026 at 11:53 AM
Security Level Housed Unhoused Total
Maximum 545 (40.0%) 86 (33.9%) 631 (39.1%)
Medium 589 (43.3%) 117 (46.1%) 706 (43.7%)
Minimum 206 (15.1%) 47 (18.5%) 253 (15.7%)
No Data / Unknown 21 (1.5%) 4 (1.6%) 25 (1.5%)
Total 1,361 (100.0%) 254 (100.0%) 1,615 (100.0%)
Source: OK Policy Institute analysis of data from the Oklahoma County Detention Center's 'Jailtracker' system.

Generally, the majority of the people held in OCDC at any given time are being held pretrial, meaning they have not yet been convicted and are being detained as their case proceeds through the court system. We count anyone who has not received a judgement in any of their cases and has not been sentenced to time in the jail in this group.

OCDC Population by Housing Status and Pretrial Status
Snapshot population as of July 06, 2026 at 11:53 AM
Pretrial Housed Unhoused Total
Pretrial 1,130 (83.0%) 190 (74.8%) 1,320 (81.7%)
Sentenced 231 (17.0%) 64 (25.2%) 295 (18.3%)
Total 1,361 (100.0%) 254 (100.0%) 1,615 (100.0%)
Source: OK Policy Institute analysis of data from the Oklahoma County Detention Center's 'Jailtracker' system.