By Conrad Dudderar
Staff Writer
EL RENO – Four vendors are seeking a contract with the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office to provide a full body scanner at the county jail.
In an “historic first” for Canadian County, two of those companies submitted their bids online.
To help keep inmates from bringing drugs and weapons into the Canadian County Jail, Undersheriff Kevin Ward said the sheriff’s office will install a fully body scanner in the jail’s receiving area.
Canadian County commissioners, at their weekly meeting April 25, opened four bids – ranging from $105,000 to $147,000 – from vendors seeking to provide the new body scanner.
“This is a machine that we’re going to use a lot in our jail as we take in inmates,” Canadian County Commission Chairman Dave Anderson said.
Two bids were opened Monday morning that were submitted electronically:
- OD Security North America LLC ($125,000)
- ChemImage Corp. ($105,000)
The other two opened were mailed “paper” bids:
- Command Sourcing Inc. ($146,900)
- Tek 84, Inc. ($147,000).
Another bid was rejected because the envelope was not property marked and secured.
Because of the difference in amounts, Canadian County commissioners tabled the bid award until May 2 so Canadian County Jail administrator Kristie Carter can review them before making a recommendation.
This was the first time in several months that Canadian County commissioners received electronic bids since they started offering this bidding option.
“It worked,” District 3 Commissioner Jack Stewart said.
STOP THAT CONTRABAND
Undersheriff Ward cited recent incidents of Canadian County inmates being caught with contraband inside the county’s detention center, 304 N Evans.
On March 6, an inmate died after overdosing on drugs allegedly provided by another inmate.
On March 27, an inmate allegedly started a fire inside a jail cell.
In recent months, several inmates have been charged with having hand-fashioned weapons used to attack fellow prisoners.
State law makes it illegal for occupants of county jails or state prisoners to have any narcotics, weapons, explosives, incendiary devices, intoxicating beverage, or money.
The new full body scanner at the Canadian County Jail will be similar to what passengers pass through at an airport security checkpoint, Ward explained.
“There are some areas that contraband can be (hidden), that without probable cause we can’t search,” he said.
On April 25, there were 235 inmates in Canadian County Sheriff’s Office custody – 191 at the jail in El Reno and 44 housed in other counties.
THIS AND THAT…
In other action at their April 25th meeting, Canadian County commissioners approved:
- Accepting a donation of a computer and related equipment valued at $5,000 from Tamera Vernon for use by the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office investigations division.
- A lease agreement with the Central Oklahoma Workforce Investment Board for $9,000 ($750 monthly) for fiscal year 2022.
- Nineteen resolutions to dispose of county equipment for District 1 sold at a recent auction in Elk City. The list includes motor graders, trailers, pickups, military trucks, a 15-passenger van, rotary cutters, horizontal grinder, road broom, and an ice machine.
- Acknowledgement of Chairman Anderson and Commissioner Marc Hader as requisitioning officers and Kim Kaes and Brandi Weeres as receiving officers for the county commissioners’ ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) account.
