A University of Tulsa law professor is building a statewide database of deaths inside Oklahoma jails, an effort that draws directly from the crisis at Tulsa's now-shuttered municipal lockup.

Professor of Law Matt Lamkin launched the Jail Death Accountability Project on Aug. 24, according to the university. The initiative will use Oklahoma's open-records laws to collect and analyze data on in-custody deaths across the state's detention and correctional facilities.

"I've been shocked by the volume of these cases … These deaths are happening constantly, and it's often extremely difficult for families to find out what really happened to their loved one behind bars," Lamkin said.

Lamkin said more than 60 people have died in the Oklahoma County Jail alone since 2020. He expects many of the project's records requests to face resistance from facilities.

The idea grew out of a sabbatical Lamkin spent working with Tulsa civil rights firm Smolen & Roytman, which has represented families in high-profile jail death cases. The firm won a $33 million verdict against the Ottawa County sheriff over the death of pretrial detainee Terral Ellis, a judgment the 10th Circuit affirmed in April 2025.

Local roots

The project has a direct Tulsa connection. UTulsa Law alumna Leslie Briggs, who earned her J.D. in 2019 and now leads the Oklahoma chapter of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, advised Lamkin on the effort. Briggs previously worked alongside The Frontier to obtain public records related to deaths at the Tulsa Municipal Jail, records work that helped bring scrutiny to the facility before its closure.

Mayor Monroe Nichols ordered the jail shut down on July 28 after a Frontier investigation documented at least seven preventable deaths at the 70-bed facility over three years. Two days later, Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler asked the OSBI to independently examine those deaths, noting that the Tulsa Police Department had not previously forwarded the death reports to his office.

"Given the large number of deaths in such a short period of time, it is reasonable to refer these cases to an outside investigative agency for their independent evaluation," Kunzweiler said on July 30 when announcing the referral.

What comes next

Lamkin plans to hire UTulsa law students as research assistants to review records, analyze data and study how families navigate the legal system after an in-custody death. He said the work is aimed at uncovering the gap between what families are told and what actually happens inside facilities.

No public timeline for the project's first records releases or reports has been announced.