Lawmaker calls for AG to investigate whether OSDE violated Open Records Act

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — A state lawmaker wants Oklahoma’s Attorney General to look into whether or not the Oklahoma State Department of Education violated the Open Records Act by not providing him detailed travel records he requested, even though News 4 found the records do exist.

State Representative Mark McBride (R-Moore) says he was surprised to see last week when News 4 reported it obtained detailed travel records—including trip itineraries, airline and hotel bookings, receipts and emails—for State Superintendent Ryan Walters and his Chief Policy Advisor Matt Langston.

McBride said he was surprised because he had requested the same things from the Oklahoma State Department of Education, but OSDE did not provide him with near as many documents.

News 4 obtained the records it reported about last week after filing an open records request for them with the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES) back in June.

OMES is a state agency with which all state employees must file expense reports to be approved or denied.

“I found it really interesting what you had,” McBride told News 4. “You had so much stuff.”

McBride shared an open records request with News 4 that he sent to OSDE leaders back in April, in which he requested detailed documentation of Walters and Langston’s travel expenses.

In return, OSDE provided McBride with a two-page spreadsheet, indicating between July 2023 and April 2024, Walters made 10 out of state trips for which the state reimbursed him a total of $10,139.66, and Langston made eight out-of-state trips for which the state reimbursed him a total of $8,879.73.

“I got two pieces of paper, one Langston and one Walters,” McBride said. “I didn’t get anything else.”

McBride told News 4, he wonders, since more detailed records than what he received clearly exist, did OSDE violate Oklahoma’s Open Records Act by not providing him with them when he requested?

“I think I think that’s a huge violation,” McBride said. “Especially when a sitting representative asks for information and he doesn’t get everything, whether you like me or not.”

There is also a discrepancy between the data reflected in the records OSDE gave McBride when compared with the records OMES provided News 4.

The records McBride obtained from OSDE indicate Langston took eight out-of-state trips between July 2023 and April, and that the state reimbursed costs for each of them.

But the records OMES provided News 4 indicate OMES only approved Langston reimbursement for two of the trips.

OMES had no records of the six other trips.

Those six other trips include several Langston made to Washington D.C. by himself, without superintendent Walters coming with him.

“So actually, Langston went to D.C. more times and Walters did,” McBride said.

It remains unclear whether OMES neglected to share News 4 records for Langston’s six other the other trips, or whether Langston never submitted the expenses for the trips for approval by OMES in the first place.

News 4 reached out to both OMES and OSDE to ask about the discrepancy. Neither agency responded.

That lack of clarity is why McBride says it’s time for Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s office to step in and investigate whether OSDE violated the Open Records Act in this case.

“I hope that that this would draw an interest to the attorney general,” McBride said. “I mean, if this if this is what we’re doing on open records and not turning everything over, I think that they should take a deep dive into it.”

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