Drummond orders Walters to comply with Open Records Act, Walters does not respond

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond sent State Superintendent Ryan Walters a very strongly-worded letter last month demanding Walters and the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) comply with the Open Records Act, after his officer received dozens of complaints. Walters never responded.

In the July 16 letter from Drummond to Walters, obtained by News 4, Drummond told Walters his office had received an “alarming number of complaints” about issues with open records requests members of the public and media had made with OSDE.

Drummond listed 42 complaints his office had received from different media outlets for dating back to January of last year they say have gone “unanswered” by OSDE.

Drummond wrote his office had tried numerous times to work with Walters and OSDE on the complaints, but that OSDE “inconceivably” ignored his office’s communications.

Drummond wrote that was “unacceptable.”

He gave Walters a deadline of last Friday, Aug. 9, to either comply with the law and fulfill unanswered requests, or meet with Drummond at his office.

On Monday, Drummond’s office told News 4 they still have not received a response from Walters or OSDE, and Walters never ended up meeting with Drummond on Friday.

The language Drummond used in the letter was strong enough to set off alarm bells even for former Assistant Oklahoma Attorney General, Tim Gilpin.

“I’ve only heard of letters like this,” Gilpin told News 4. “This is just not something you want to receive, particularly for a statewide elected official. It’s not a good thing.”

Gilpin said non-compliance with the Open Records Act can lead to criminal charges, and it would be at Drummond’s discretion whether or not to pursue them. He said Walters did not do himself any favors by not responding to Drummond’s letter.

“You know, not to respond to the attorney general is a pretty serious thing,” Gilpin said. “At some point the attorney general has to sit down and decide if he’s going to present it to a grand jury and see if they indict.”

The punishment if found guilty of violating Oklahoma’s Open Records act ranges from a $500 fine to one year in jail, per charge.

Last fall, House Speaker Charles McCall (R-Atoka) said Walters would have to commit a crime for him to consider impeaching Walters.

“That’s the level of infraction that you have to meet for this body to consider something that strong,” McCall said in September.

But as News 4 has reported, there is increasing sentiment among some Republicans to have Walters impeached after News 4 reported last week that OSDE was depriving schools of money the legislature allotted them to pay for security upgrades in the wake of the Uvalde shooting.

State Rep. Mark McBride (R-Moore) says now is the time to impeach Walters, criminal charges or not.

“My deal now is we’re past looking for a felony or something really egregious,” McBride said. “We’re looking at incompetence and we we’ve got to take control. I mean, the legislature, we’ve got to step up to the plate.”

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