After a 45-minute executive (closed to the public) session Monday, Kingfisher County Board of County Commissioners took no action on a proposed jail trust for the county.

An Enid attorney, David Henneke, met with the commissioners at the end of the regular meeting of the board behind closed doors.

Asked what “a jail trust” did by the Times and Free Press representative after the meeting reopened to the public, Henneke replied, “Run the jail.”

“Is that a paying job?” he was asked.

Henneke replied, “Yes; many larger counties have them.”

Kingfisher County has not had a jail trust in the past.

Executive sessions of public bodies are normally allowed to discuss personnel matters.

The agenda item regarding the establishment of a jail trust in Kingfisher County cited as its authority Title 25 Okla. §307(B) (11), which reads: “No person who may profit directly or indirectly by a proposed transaction which is under consideration may be present or participate in the executive session; 11.”

Henneke indicated he would return for next Monday’s commission meeting to discuss the proposal further.

Undersheriff Ed Cangiano attended the regular meeting, along with County Clerk Emily Lee as official minute clerk, County Engineer Nik Smith, Emergency Management Director Ryan Deatherage and Kelly Buck, citizen visitor.

Included in the executive session were Nick Storm and John Storm of the firm Storm & Hauser, the county’s budget-maker, county commissioners’ secretary Angie Meyer and Lee.

During the regular business meeting, commissioners opened 39 bids from firms seeking to provide road materials and services to all three county districts for the first six months of the 2025-26 fiscal year.

Commissioners tabled action on those bids to allow staff to tabulate them lowest to highest before voting on their approval at next Monday’s regular meeting.

Two bids were declined for failure to provide a state-required non-collusion certificate.

Commissioners approved monthly reports for the offices of sheriff, county clerk, treasurer, assessor, health department, court clerk and election board.

They also approved a resolution allowing the court clerk to dispose of a 2024 CPU HP computer and several pipeline road crossings including: three for Devon Energy in District 3 beginning at a point four miles west and two miles north of Okarche and three others for Ovintiv Energy, one in District 1 and two in District 3 all located in the vicinity of three miles north and two miles west of Kingfisher.

They tabled action on an item related to the emergency management office.

Deatherage said the agenda item dealt with a possible domain setup for High Point Networks, LLC, and involved email accounts.

It could result in recurring expenditures of $21,000 a year.

The systems are not mandatory now, but may become so in the future.