Tulsa Attorney Blog 18 Posts Tagged 'Rogers County'

• Audit: Rogers County DA Office Deleted Financial Records

  By James M. Wirth, Esq., June 28th, 2016

  State auditors cited two Oklahoma felony laws as criteria for a finding that the District Attorney’s Office in Rogers County deleted financial records. The audit also cites a misdemeanor provision of the Oklahoma Open Records Act, which forbids public officials from deleting public records.

• Washington County Judge Upholds Oklahoma Citizen Participation Act

  By James M. Wirth, Esq., March 8th, 2016

  A Washington County court has dismissed a lawsuit on free speech grounds under a fast-track procedure created in the 2014 Oklahoma Citizens Participation Act. The decision runs contrary to two previous OCPA decisions in other libel cases, all of which involve the same group of Rogers County defendants, sued by former District Attorney Janice Steidley. The contrary rulings set the stage for an appellate decision on the Oklahoma law intended to provide timely relief when a libel lawsuit challenges constitutionally protected advocacy.

• More Charges Filed in Rogers County Scandal

  By James M. Wirth, Esq., July 21st, 2015

  New charges filed against a current and a former Rogers County Commissioner mirror allegations leveled in a citizens grand jury petition.

• Appeals Court Details Oklahoma Rules of Statutory Construction

  By James M. Wirth, Esq., May 18th, 2015

  Tulsa law firms can use the Court of Criminal Appeals decision in State ex rel Pruitt v Steidley as a handy cheat sheet for rules of statutory construction, Oklahoma style. The court summarized Oklahoma case law as it applies to interpreting statutes that otherwise might lead to contrary or ambiguous conclusions.

• Former Rogers County Commissioner Charged With 2011 Embezzlement

  By James M. Wirth, Esq., April 27th, 2015

  The former Rogers County Commissioner who filed a libel suit against critics over a petition that asked a grand jury to investigate embezzlement allegations has been charged with embezzlement. A Claremore detective who circulated the petition was among those who first investigated the embezzlement allegations — two years before the citizens’ petition sought a grand jury investigation.

• Rogers County Commissioners Fire District Attorney

  By James M. Wirth, Esq., October 7th, 2014

  Janice Steidley may continue to represent Oklahoma in criminal matters but her office can no longer act as legal counsel for Rogers County. Why?

• Grand Jury Calls for Standardized Oklahoma Giglio Policies

  By James M. Wirth, Esq., August 27th, 2014

  No Rogers County Officials Indicted An Oklahoma grand jury has recommended that the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office draft model policies to guide prosecutors’ handling of information that could assist criminal defendants. The recommendation was the most substantive result of a grand-jury investigation into alleged wrongdoing among Rogers County prosecutors and police. The clock ran out […]

• Rogers County Sheriff, Other Officials Remain Mired in Controversies

  By James M. Wirth, Esq., July 29th, 2014

  Intrigue among Rogers County officials just never seems to fade away. One might think a landslide defeat in which incumbent District Attorney Janice Steidley received a meager 13 percent of votes in the Republican primary race would have dampened allegations and counter allegations. Not so. The widely circulated allegations of 2013 sprang up around claims […]

• Rogers County Cops and Courts Controversies Timeline

  By staff, July 29th, 2014

  Wirth Law Office compiled a timeline of Rogers County controversies that include allegations of lying by police, a grand jury investigation of the DA, public officials libel lawsuits against other officials and the local newspaper, and the landslide electoral defeat of the Rogers County District Attorney.

• Rogers County Sheriff’s Spy Cam Highlights Open Fields Doctrine in Oklahoma

  By James M. Wirth, Esq., June 19th, 2014

  A sheriff sneaks into your farm field in the early hours of the morning to plant a camera. Is it legal or not? The question came up in Rogers County when the office of Sheriff Scott Walton apparently placed a camera somewhere on 400 acres of farmland owned by county commissioner Kirt Thaker. Walton said […]

<<< Older posts