Greg Williams resigns as CEO of Oklahoma County Detention Center - last day January 19

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - Oklahoma County Detention Center Jail Administrator and Chief Executive Officer, Greg Williams has resigned from his position with the Criminal Justice Authority (Jail Trust).

The Oklahoma County Jail Trust appointed Greg Williams in Nov. 2019, months before the trust took over operations at the jail.

Williams, a 30-year veteran of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, was hired to help the Jail Trust improve the contentious jail following decades of troubles for the detention center.

However, a group of about 30 clergy, community activists and advocates called for his resignation in late October, saying the plague of problems has continued under his leadership.

“We waited to see the death decline. We waited to see horror stories of the jail dissipate. We waited to see the direction change [but] we see right now that it is not happened,” said Pastor John A. Reed, Jr. “Mr. Williams is incapable of righting the ship.”

The Jail Trust met in early November to discuss Williams' employment status, but ultimately decided to take no action.

The measure to vote on retaining or firing Williams was introduced by Pastor Derrick Scobey, one of the newest Jail Trust members, but was never considered during the meeting before they adjourned; rather, no one else on the board seconded the measure, which would have allowed the committee to move forward with a vote.

Another trustee, Adam Luck made a motion to do an annual review of William’s performance at the next meeting for the Jail Trust. It was passed and was set to be discussed at the December meeting.

Since that time, Greg Williams confirmed to KFOR he's submitted a letter of resignation to the Board.

The trustees say they have accepted his resignation.

“The Jail Trust has accepted the resignation of Greg Williams, the CEO and administrator of the Oklahoma County Detention Center,” Jim Couch, chair of the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority said. “We expect him to remain in the role until approximately the middle of January, though his final work day has yet to be determined.”  

“I personally want to thank Greg for his service. He took a hard job under very challenging circumstances, and he made demonstrable, meaningful improvements in conditions and outcomes at the jail,” Couch said. “Although he has decided to move on from his position, he deserves to take pride in the positive impact he made.” 

“The Jail Trust will continue to work toward improvements in our infrastructure and our operations as we strive to provide a safe and secure facility for our staff, our community and the people in our custody,” Couch said. “We will undertake a broad search to quickly identify our next administrator.” 

Williams' last day is set for January 19.