OKLAHOMA CITY (KSWO) – An Oklahoma State Senator is saying she might pursue legal action against the Oklahoma State Board of Education as well as the Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters for denying her access to a June 27 executive session.

The potential lawsuit surrounds the private executive session part of an OSBE meeting. The incident took place at the same meeting where Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters said Bibles will be in every classroom of the state.

Oklahoma Sen. Mary Boren (D-OKC) is saying she was denied access to the executive session part of the meeting despite having legal authority to attend. By being denied access, the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act could have been violated, according to Boren.

“I am disappointed, but not surprised, that the State Board of Education conveniently interpreted the Open Meetings Act to exclude me in my official capacity as a state senator from their executive session,” Sen. Boren wrote in a statement sent to 7News. “Section 310 of Title 25 of the Oklahoma Statutes provides for attendance of state legislators in executive sessions.”

The section Boren references within the above quote does seem to give specific members of the Oklahoma Legislature the ability to attend meetings.

Any member of the Legislature appointed as a member of a committee of either house of the Legislature or joint committee thereof shall be permitted to attend any executive session authorized by the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act of any state agency, board or commission whenever the jurisdiction of such committee includes the actions of the public body involved.

Boren is a part of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee, as well as other committees within the same chamber.

“I had anticipated the executive session would involve decisions that will likely incur significant legal costs by misapplying administrative rules and unconstitutionally targeting teachers and rights of students,” Sen. Boren wrote. “All of these issues are within my role as a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Education, the Administrative Rules Committee and the Judiciary Committee.”

Superintendent Walters pushed back on the idea that the statute gives Boren the ability to enter the executive session she attempted to enter.

“Senator Boren is as disingenuous as she is ignorant of Oklahoma law,” Walters said in a statement. “The statute she cited does not grant her access to State Board proceedings in executive session which are specifically for the adjudication of individual licensure revocation matters. It is absurd that she has claimed constitutional infirmities in these Board processes. Adequate and proper notice and due process was afforded each individual in each case. She has blocked additional accountability measures from the Senate floor and now wants to interfere with the agency tasked with keeping sexual predators out of the classroom.”

Anyone who is found to have violated the Oklahoma Open Meetings Act could face fines up to $500 or jail time for no longer than a year.

You can count on your 7News team to provide an update when information becomes available.

Copyright 2024 KSWO. All rights reserved.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s office said Tuesday that it launched an online form to submit complaints about airline carriers and ticket agents to his office. 

Drummond has the authority to review and resolve complaints from airline consumers that are Oklahoma residents after signing a “memorandum of understanding” with the U.S. Department of Transportation, according to a news release. 

While these investigations are normally handled by the federal government, Drummond’s office said in a statement that elevated levels of airline consumer complaints allow this agreement to streamline the review of complaints. 

More: Oklahoma attorney general defends controversial immigration law as essential for public safety

“Airline passengers deserve to be treated fairly and to receive the services for which they pay,” Drummond said in a statement. “Our hope is that this airline complaint form will improve ease for Oklahomans to lodge a complaint directly with the Attorney General’s office.”

This is a two-year agreement that can be extended in intervals of two years. The complaint form can be accessed through the Oklahoma attorney general’s website. 

The U.S. Department of Transportation is expected to launch its own modernized system for handling complaints sometime in July. 

Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions:info@oklahomavoice.com. Follow Oklahoma Voice onFacebook andTwitter.

An Oklahoma City Police officer was shot after a man armed with a firearm barricaded himself inside a home for several hours in northwest Oklahoma City, police say.

Oklahoma City Police said officers arrived at the scene near Northwest 36th Street and North Pennsylvania Avenue shortly after 9 a.m. Tuesday and found a man holding a gun to someone’s head.

Officers were met with gunfire when they arrived on the scene, and an officer was struck, according to OCPD Capt. Valerie Littlejohn.

A standoff lasted several hours after the man remained armed with two women and three children inside the home.

Littlejohn said officers tried negotiating with the suspect, and a tactical team was called in.

According to OCPD, the suspect fired at officers from inside the home until officers were able to shoot back and kill the suspect.

The women and children were removed from the house safely.

The officer who was shot was taken to a nearby hospital and is doing well after undergoing surgery, according to Littlejohn.

Littlejohn said officers involved in shooting the suspect have been placed on paid administrative leave. “It’s hard on everybody,” Littlejohn said. “Just the whole situation […] the incident itself is very difficult for everyone involved.”

Nearby homes were evacuated, according to police.

Neighborhood resident Lamont Overstreet says that violence in the area isn’t a surprise, “This is a really bad area to be living in […] I’m in the process of moving out of this area.”

This is a developing story.

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