Committee advances bill nearly doubling rate for transporting youth in Oklahoma custody

OKLAHOMA CITY — A Senate committee on Wednesday advanced a measure that would nearly double the reimbursement rate for transporting juvenile defendants.

House Bill 1680 increases the reimbursement fee from $17 an hour to $32 an hour. The fee is paid by the Office of Juvenile Affairs to entities who transport their youth to the 11 facilities in the state, said Sen. Bill Coleman, R-Ponca City, the Senate author.

The increased rate is expected to cost the Office of Juvenile Affairs about $124,800 a year, and the agency officials noted they would require an increase to their budget to pay for it, according to a legislative fiscal analysis.

Coleman said the last time the rate was increased was in the 1990s. Supporters said the increase is needed because it costs substantially more to transport the youth today than it did nearly three decades ago.

The measure passed the Senate appropriation’s committee 23-0. It heads to the full Senate for consideration.