Oklahoma

Audit finds Oklahoma is 'becoming a no-bid state' amid mismanagement by state agency

Published

2 years ago

April 23, 2024

Audit finds Oklahoma is 'becoming a no-bid state' amid mismanagement by state agency

The audit finds at least $30 million and up to $100 million of questionable costs passing through OMES.

Byrd finds the agency created a new set of rules for vendor contracts that bypass the competitive bidding process. Other issues include exorbitant management fees for the distribution of rental assistance and a cushy contract for the husband of an agency leader.

As a result, Attorney General Gentner Drummond is calling for the resignation of Secretary of Tourism Shelley Zumwalt. She is the former OMES director. Zumwalt denies the allegations and has told reporters she won’t be resigning.

‘Becoming a no-bid state’

In 2019, OMES introduced “Statewide Contracts” for vendors. Under one of these contracts, a company would no longer be required to participate in a competitive bidding process. Competitive bidding is meant to ensure contract work is the most cost-effective use of taxpayer dollars.

“Oklahoma is rapidly becoming a no-bid state,” reads a release from Byrd’s office. “This is a grave disservice to every Oklahoman.”

The audit report says there were no written protocols to ensure these “Statewide Contracts” were legal. Byrd’s office recommends OMES develop policies and procedures for these contracts and present them to the state legislature, which could decide whether to eliminate them or affirm their legality.

Conflicts of interest

During her time in leadership positions at OMES, Zumwalt hired software company “Phase 2” for millions of dollars of work. But Zumwalt never disclosed to the state that her husband was the vice-president of Phase 2, despite being required to fill out annual conflict of interest forms.

After Zumwalt became its Chief Innovation Officer, OMES paid her husband’s company around $7 million in taxpayer money for software services.

Zumwalt became the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission in May 2020. During her time there, the OESC paid Phase 2 $8.5 million across five contracts.

Zumwalt only revealed her conflicts of interest at Phase 2 when she became director of the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department in 2022. She also serves as Gov. Kevin Stitt’s Secretary of Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage.

After the release of the audit report, Attorney General Gentner Drummond called for Zumwalt’s resignation, calling her actions “wholly inappropriate and potentially unlawful.”

“This level of self-dealing represents an unforgivable breach of trust that disqualifies Ms. Zumwalt from overseeing the expenditure of our tax dollars,” Drummond said in a statement.

Pandemic relief pandemonium

Federal pandemic relief money brought even more questionable costs through OMES.

The Office contracted with the non-profit Communities Foundation of Oklahoma (CFO) to distribute $241 million in federal rental assistance. The audit found CFO mismanaged around $25 million, which included inflated administrative fees, undistributed grants, ineligible grants, unallowable bonuses, and inappropriate expenditures. The latter includes more than $33,000 in costs including “visits to entertainment venues, cooking class, succulent planting class, painting, and restaurants.”

OMES also spent more than $718,000 on questionable contracts with former employee Jill Geiger. A year after Geiger left the OMES Budget Department in 2019, her consulting company was awarded a no-bid contract to oversee the distribution of the agency’s federal pandemic relief grants, including the Emergency Rent Assistance distributed through CFO.

According to the audit, Geiger’s company did not have the experience or credentials to oversee federal grant funds, which Byrd said requires a “high level of expertise.” The audit couldn’t always determine whether Geiger’s company had completed the work it was paid for.

The foundation also used state funds to pay Geiger’s company an additional $41,000 without a contract.

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Oklahoma

Oklahoma lawmakers consider bill to require annual fee for transmission lines on private property

Published

1 hour ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Oklahoma lawmakers consider bill to require annual fee for transmission lines on private property

As consumer electricity needs grow, lawmakers are discussing strategies to ease the burden on landowners who don’t want the towers and wires carrying that energy on their property.

As it’s written now, the bill would require transmission owners to pay landowners $2 per foot of line annually. During the committee meeting, Murdock said he introduced the legislation to “start a conversation.”

“ This is an idea of, maybe moving forward, if the landowners are getting a royalty off of the power being pushed across their property, it may make it a little more palatable for someone to have a transmission line go across their property,” he said.

Landowners can enter into easement agreements with companies to set aside portions of their land for the builds. But in some cases, eminent domain is used to obtain a right-of-way.

“ I’m not saying that this is going to do away with eminent domain,” Murdock said. “What I’m hoping is this just makes it a little more palatable.”

Murdock said he spoke with utility companies about the legislation, though he didn’t name them. The bill’s language could change after creating an alternative rate based on conversations with the companies, he said.

Sen. Dave Rader, R-Tulsa, said the bill could raise utility rates for consumers living in Oklahoma’s most populous counties if companies charge more to make up for the annual fee.

Murdock pushed back, noting the lines are necessary to deliver electricity to other counties.

“You understand that you flip that light on because — and have that ability to have electricity because — the people in my district have a transmission line that goes across them, getting you that power,” he said.

StateImpact Oklahoma is a partnership of Oklahoma’s public radio stations which relies on contributions from readers and listeners to fulfill its mission of public service to Oklahoma and beyond. Donate online.

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Oklahoma

Oklahoma Ford Sports Blitz: Mar. 1, 2026

Published

13 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Oklahoma Ford Sports Blitz: Mar. 1, 2026

Big night in downtown OKC as the Oklahoma City Thunder welcome the Denver Nugget and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is back on the floor.

Steve McGehee reports live from Paycom Center with the latest on SGA’s return after missing nine games, the Thunder’s push to hold the top spot in the Western Conference, and what getting healthy means for OKC’s title hopes.

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Oklahoma

How Oklahoma GM Jim Nagy ‘Put More Around’ John Mateer During Offseason

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

How Oklahoma GM Jim Nagy ‘Put More Around’ John Mateer During Offseason

Oklahoma general manager Jim Nagy experienced great success during his first year in Norman.

Nagy, who joined OU’s staff in February 2025, oversaw the Sooners’ scouting staff as Oklahoma reached the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2019. He also helped OU sign a top-15 2026 recruiting class and land several key transfer portal players after the 2025 season.

Though the wins outweighed the losses in Nagy’s first year, the Sooners’ general manager knew that there was much to fortify during the offseason.

Oklahoma’s offense sputtered late in the season, as the Sooners scored fewer than 25 points in each of their last four games.

For Nagy, a major focus was surrounding OU quarterback John Mateer with quality talent.

“(We wanted to) just really put more around John Mateer,” Nagy said on The Dari Nowkhah Show on KREF on Friday.

Nagy and his scouting team added plenty of pieces from the portal that should elevate Oklahoma’s offense.

The Sooners signed three portal wideouts — Trell Harris (Virginia), Parker Livingstone (Texas) and Mackenzie Alleyne (Washington State) — after the 2025 season to join returning receivers Isaiah Sategna, Jer’Michael Carter and Jacob Jordan.

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Sategna, who transferred to OU from Arkansas after the 2024 season, served as Mateer’s safety net in 2025. The receiver finished the year with 965 yards and eight touchdowns on 67 catches.

Harris and Livingstone are both proven producers at the Power Four level, and Nagy believes that those two will make OU’s receiving corps stronger in 2026.

“Those two, we’re very excited about both of those guys,” Nagy said.

Nagy also did plenty of work to ensure that OU’s run game improves in 2026.

The Sooners added three tight ends — Hayden Hansen (Florida), Rocky Beers (Colorado State) and Jack Van Dorselaer (Tennessee) — from the portal. They also added three transfer offensive linemen: Caleb Nitta (Western Kentucky), E’Marion Harris (Arkansas) and Peyton Joseph (Georgia Tech).

OU will have its two top running backs from the 2025 squad, Xavier Robinson and Tory Blaylock, back in 2026.

For those two to reach their full potential, the Sooners’ blockers will have to regularly open up running lanes — and Nagy is confident that they will.

“We have to run the ball better, there’s no way around that,” Nagy said. “Our job is to create more competition in every room in the offseason. I feel like we’ve done that.”

On the show, Nagy revealed that the Sooners added nearly 9,000 collegiate snaps to their roster during the offseason.

The general manager believes that both sides of the ball will be stronger as a result of his scouting team’s offseason efforts and their collaboration with OU’s coaching staff.

“I’ve tried to be really intentional with our communication,” Nagy said. “There’s a common goal: We’re trying to win a national championship. This is a true partnership, and we all have the same goal in mind. It’s going to continue to evolve and get better.”

Oklahoma will open its 2026 season against UTEP on Sept. 5.

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