AG Drummond awarded for transparency; Ryan Walters given Black Hole Award by FOI Oklahoma

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond has received the annual Sunshine Award from Freedom of Information Oklahoma for his efforts to promote open government in the state. Another elected official, state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters, is this year’s recipient of the group's Black Hole Award, given to the individual, agency or organization that has most thwarted the free flow of information.

FOI Oklahoma also recognized McCurtain County Gazette-News publisher Bruce Willingham, attorney Josh D. Lee, Oklahoma Supreme Court Chief Justice M. John Kane IV and longtime journalist Bill Crum with awards as part of Sunshine Week, a national collaboration of civic, government, journalism and private organizations and individuals that stresses the importance of open government and open records.

Except for Walters, FOI Oklahoma said all those receiving awards exemplify the goal of open and transparent government in Oklahoma. Award winners will be officially recognized this fall at the First Amendment Congress, planned for October at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond.

“Oklahomans have the right to know how their government operates and spends their tax dollars,” said Brianna Bailey, FOI Oklahoma president. “The FOI Oklahoma Awards recognize those who have shown a commitment to transparency.”

FOI Oklahoma noted that Drummond, a Republican, created a public access position in his office, in which former state Sen. Anthony Sykes now serves, that helps ensure compliance with the state’s Open Meetings Act and Open Records Act.

“Attorney General Drummond’s creation of a public access position in his office will have a long-lasting impact on public access to information in Oklahoma,” FOI awards committee members wrote. “His dedication to open government sets an example for others to follow.”

Drummond said since March 2023, his office has received 174 complaints about potential violations of open meeting and open records laws, and of those, 133 have been resolved.

More: Ryan Walters' administration exodus continues with departure of top accreditation official

Also, within two months of taking office, Drummond cleared a backlog of 66 open-records requests, some dating back years. Since then, his office has responded to 200 more open-records requests.

“Transparency in government has been a top priority of mine, and I remain committed to aggressively enforcing the Open Meetings and Open Records Acts across state government each day,” Drummond said in a statement. “I believe our citizens are best served by an open and transparent government. I am honored to receive this award and will continue working to build a culture of accountability and trust.”

FOI Oklahoma: Ryan Walters 'has done more to damage First Amendment freedoms' than any recent state political figure

Conversely, Walters — who took office at the same time as Drummond — “has done more to damage First Amendment freedoms among educators and others than any other political leader in recent state history,” FOI Oklahoma said.

“Teachers and librarians are afraid to speak out in fear of what Walters and the State Department of Education might do to them. … Ryan Walters has done everything possible to spread his agenda and thwart the free flow of information in education and government. The state education system is in a black hole based on his inept leadership.”

In a late December news release from the Oklahoma State Department of Education, which is led by Walters, the agency claimed it had received 607 open-records requests through last Nov. 30 and had fulfilled 488 of them with an average turnaround time of 31 days.

But prompt replies by the agency to requests from The Oklahoman are rare. The Oklahoman has at least eight open-records requests with the agency that remain unfilled, including some that are months old. The agency hasn’t fulfilled a single request from The Oklahoman since at least October.

State legislators, even those in his own political party, also have had difficulty when seeking information from Walters’ agency. It took a rare legislative subpoena, signed by House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, and two key education lawmakers — Rep. Mark McBride, R-Moore, and Rep. Rhonda Baker, R-Yukon — for Walters to release information McBride and Baker had sought for months.

Walters also has threatened to lower the accreditation level of multiple school districts that have drawn his ire, including Tulsa, Western Heights and Edmond. He’s also the defendant in multiple defamation lawsuits filed by current and former teachers and has claimed without providing proof that there’s an active media conspiracy against him.

"Every liberal and liberal organization in Oklahoma hates Ryan Walters’ war on Wokeism and classroom indoctrination," Walters' spokesman, Dan Isett, said in a statement. "It is no surprise that FOI Oklahoma hates conservative warrior Ryan Walters and promotes the liberal destruction of our state."

Journalists, state Supreme Court also receive open-government awards

Publisher Willingham received FOI Oklahoma’s Ben Blackstock Award. The McCurtain County newspaper published stories in early 2023 about how the county sheriff and county commissioners conducted illegal meetings that included discussion of threatening to hang Black people and kill journalists.

FOI Oklahoma honored attorney Lee with the Marian Opala First Amendment Award, which is named after a former chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. Lee was the attorney and plaintiff in a seminal case in Oklahoma, Ward & Lee v. Claremore, that declared all police dashcam recordings to be subject to disclosure under the Oklahoma Open Records Act. Lee also created the website FOIBible.com, which provides information to people seeking open records.

Kane and the state Supreme Court received a special commendation from FOI Oklahoma for making video recordings of past oral arguments before the court available to the public on the court’s website.

Crum received the Bickham-Hale Service Award after years of service as a journalist — including at The Oklahoman — and as a member of the FOI Oklahoma board.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma open records group derides Ryan Walters; celebrates Drummond