OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – After months of planning, the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office officially handed off the jail to the Oklahoma County Jail Trust.

New jail administrator Greg Williams is sharpening his focus after officially taking over the Oklahoma County Detention Center on Wednesday.

“Our mission here is to treat everybody with dignity and everybody with respect,” said Williams.

The transition marks a new chapter for the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office, which operated the jail and has been around for 130 years.

“I think we did an excellent job. We left the jail in much better shape than it’s been in the past 40 years, so I’m very excited about that,” said P.D. Taylor, Oklahoma County Sheriff.

Taylor says he looks forward to fully focusing on law enforcement.

“My whole new vision, and I can’t wait to just be over law enforcement and concentrate on keeping people safe and our children safe and the unincorporated area,” said Taylor.

Williams wants to make sure the jail is working as efficiently as possible with the estimated 355 to 360 staff members it has currently.

“Really try to evaluate work flows and make sure that we have the right people doing the right kinds of job and really trying to capitalize on any efficiencies that we can,” said Williams.

His hope is that every inmate who enters the jail is focused on bettering themselves.

“People will function at the level of their lowest need and certainly I don’t want them focusing on food. I don’t want them focusing on, you know, being hungry – those kind of things. I want them focusing on being sober and getting their mental health squared away and start restoring their lives,” he said.

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