Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Todd Hiett refuses to resign

Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Todd Hiett said on Tuesday he will not resign, despite the national embarrassment caused by his drunken behavior at a regulatory conference in June in Minnesota.

A witness from the Kansas Corporation Commission reported Hiett, 57, put his hand on a man's groin area in the hotel lobby bar late June 9. "I thought, OK, you have just witnessed a sexual assault and we need to get (the man) out of here," she wrote in her account.

In a statement to the media, Hiett said the commission is facing a heavy workload that includes numerous rate cases with a tremendous potential impact to ratepayers.

"It would be a detriment for me to step aside from my responsibility to balance the interests of ratepayers to those of the utilities," he said.

Hiett issued the statement to the media after Commissioner Bob Anthony said he must resign. Hiett has clashed repeatedly with Anthony, who is in the last months of his final term in office.

On Monday, Anthony called on Hiett to resign after The Oklahoman reported on the sexual misconduct accusation.

"There can be no tolerance for his actions, especially when directed toward persons whose companies, industries and/or jobs will otherwise continue to be directly affected by the regulatory decisions he makes. This situation is untenable. Neither getting sober nor sincerely apologizing can resolve it," Anthony wrote.

"Hiett's immediate departure is the only corrective action possible to restore any functional level of integrity and credibility to the business conducted by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission."

Hiett said Anthony's call for his resignation comes as no surprise.

More: Witnesses allege Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Todd Hiett groped man

He said Anthony has repeatedly made accusations against other commissioners and employees at the Oklahoma Corporation Commission over the years. He also alleged Anthony does not actively participate in the work of the commission, "which has often resulted in just two Commissioners deciding the merits of the cases that come before us.”

Hiett, a Republican, is the chairman of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. He was elected to his second, and final, six-year term in 2020. Gov. Kevin Stitt would chose someone to complete his term if he were to step down.

The three-member commission regulates oil and gas drilling, public utilities, cotton gins and key aspects of the transportation industry. The commission meets again Wednesday in Oklahoma City.

Tuesday afternoon, Commissioner Kim David called on Hiett to consider taking a leave of absence while an investigation takes place.

"These are serious allegations that need to be addressed," she said. ""It's critical that we ensure the public and those we regulate have confidence that we take the responsibility of this office seriously. Displaying full transparency in how we conduct ourselves is important."

Hiett told The Oklahoman July 15 that he sought help for an alcohol afflictio n after being told he had acted inappropriately at the conference in Minnesota. He admitted drinking too much and apologized to anyone he offended.

He apologized again Monday, after The Oklahoman told him about the sexual accusation. He said in both interviews that he has no memory of the incident.

"I wish I could deny what they're saying. It's hard for me to believe that I would do something of that nature," he said Monday. "There's no way in my nature that I would ever do anything like that with any intention other than ... just horseplay and ... trying to make a joke or tease someone."

Alleged incident happened during a conference in Minneapolis

The Oklahoman obtained two written accounts of the incident from the Kansas Corporation Commission through an open records request. The names of the witnesses, as well as the man who was with them, were blacked out. The man was described in one account as a representative of a company that "goes before" the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.

They were all attending a meeting of the Mid-America Regulatory Conference on June 9 -12 at the Renaissance Hotel in Minneapolis. No one reported the incident to the police.

The second witness recalled seeing an intoxicated Hiett rubbing the man's "arm and shoulder area, in a completely inappropriate and uncomfortable fashion." He wrote in his account that he later was told that the groping had intensified after he left the table to go to the restroom.

In his resignation call, Anthony revealed he spoke to numerous current and former commissioners from across the country after The Oklahoman first reported on the drunken incident. He wrote they "reported to me a history of similar behavior at meetings and conferences in multiple other states."

In a statement July 15 about his drinking, Hiett said he had fallen into a trap of using alcohol to combat stress over the last few years. He said July 15 and again Monday he intends to never drink alcohol again.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Todd Hiett refuses to resign