The Woodward News

Local News

May 31, 2009

Murder suspects being held in Custer County

The Woodward County Jail is so full, it can’t house two Mooreland men charged with first degree murder.

“The two guys being held on murder charges are still at the Custer County Jail,” Sheriff Gary Stanley said Friday. “Custer County has maximum security cells, so we took them there. They were considered to be a flight risk, so there were security issues regarding the charges they’re being held on. There is overcrowding in the Woodward County Jail.”

Capacity for holding inmates at the Woodward County Jail is 41, Stanley said.

At the time the inmates being held in Custer County were arrested, the jail was housing 48 inmates, he said.

Custer County offered Woodward County a discount fee of $10 a day for housing the inmates, Stanley said. However, that fee is for a short term. If the inmates are held in Custer County for a long period of time, the fee will go up to $20 to $25 a day, Stanley said.

The Mooreland inmates are originally from Guatemala and are in the United States illegally, Stanley said.

They are being held without bond following their recent arraignment in Woodward County District Court.

Isidro Juarez Ramos, 29, and Julio Juarez Ramos, 22, are charged in the death of a third man from Guatemala, Antonio Lopez Velasquez.

The men were charged with murder after allegedly confessing to strangling Velasquez May 16 with a rope in Mooreland and allegedly leading law officers to his body, which was located near an oil field southeast of Mooreland near some trees.

Stanley has said overcrowding is not the only issue the Woodward County Jail faces.

It is fraught with plumbing problems and security issues and is constantly in need of repair.

A jail inspector has told the sheriff a new facility is needed, Stanley said.

Last Monday, the Woodward County Commission set Aug. 11 as a date for a referendum to ask voters to raise the county sales tax for a period of 10 years to pay for a new detention center.

The proposed detention center would house either 118 beds or 124 beds and would cost $10 million.

Currently, the county has a sales tax in effect in the amount of two tenths of a cent. A sales tax increase to pay off a new detention center over a 10-year period would raise that amount by five eighths of a cent to .825 of a cent until the detention center was paid off.

After the detention center was paid for, the sales tax would revert to four tenths of a cent, of which two tenths would be used to pay for maintenance, operation and salaries for the center.

The remaining two tenths of a cent would continue to pay for other county programs.

Text Only
Local News
  • Businesses damaged by high wind

    Two buildings were damaged and several power poles knocked out by high winds in Woodward on Friday night.

    May 26, 2012

  • VFW to hold Memorial Day ceremony

    Memorial Day is a day for people to remember and honor those who have fought and fallen in all of our nation's wars.

    May 26, 2012

  • Voter registration deadline approaching

    Those wanting cast a ballot in the June 26 Primary Election need to be registered to vote by June 1.

    May 26, 2012

  • Alabaster Caverns sets science camp

    FREEDOM - Alabaster Caverns State Park and the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) are teaming up to provide a summer science camp.

    May 26, 2012

  • Giving kids a reason to smile

    SHARON - An area organization wants to give children affected by the April 15 tornado a reason to smile.
    Knowing how much many families lost during the tornado, the newly formed "Make a Child Smile" program seeks to help replace the children's beloved items that were stolen by the storm.

    May 25, 2012

  • Oklahoma House narrowly passes annual budget bill

    OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma House on Thursday narrowly approved a $6.8 billion general appropriations bill to fund state government, just hours after the same bill failed, avoiding the need to return for a special session.

    May 25, 2012

  • Farmer’s Market opening up Saturday

    The Woodward Farmer's Market Association will be back this summer.

    May 25, 2012

  • Officials expect busy weekend on highways


    OKLAHOMA CITY -  AAA Oklahoma expects over 500,000 state residents to be on the road for the Memorial Day holiday. That's a 2.2 percent increase from last year, said Chuck Mai, AAA public affairs vice president.
     

    May 24, 2012

  • Busy summer at library

    The Woodward Public Library will be staying busy in months to come with several summer reading programs.

    May 24, 2012

  • Quinlan event set

    QUINLAN - The annual Quinlan Alumni and Former Quinlan Students' covered dish supper is Saturday at the Quinlan Fellowship Hall.

    May 24, 2012