Monday was the final day to file the protest against the county budget, which was approved by the excise board and filed with the state auditor and inspector on Nov. 14, according to the protest. The commissioners are now demanding a public hearing.
The protest alleges that the county budget prepared by the excise board is "wholly and totally contrary to law and fails to fund certain agencies and departments as required by law. This would include failure to properly fund the county jail and arbitrarily adjusting the estimate of needs of the other departments."
Nathan Young III, a Tahlequah attorney who represents the commissioners, said the law states that they have to fund the jail authority, and he says there will probably be litigation over that issue.
When the excise board reviewed the county budget that the commissioners submitted last month, the excise board changed the budget by cutting out $214,000 in funding for the new county jail, restoring funding to the sheriff's department from $373,000 to $558,252.68, and reducing money to the county 911 system from $60,000 to $45,000.
The excise board said the jail would be operated from an operating and maintenance fund which was generated by one-third of a half-cent sales tax approved by voters, along with revenue generated from the jail's phone system and commissary.
Young said the signatures of the county commissioners on the budget submitted to the state auditor were attached to a budget that the commissioners did not approve.
The county commissioners signed the budget that they approved, and then the excise board changed it and approved it. Then what the commissioners signed was attached to what the excise board approved and sent to the state auditor, Young said. He said the commissioners believed the budget they were signing was the budget they approved.
"It was the old switcheroo," Young said.
Young said the county commissioners actually received their first copy of the budget that was sent to the state auditor on Monday.
"This is fraud and alteration of documents," Young said. "It's a felony."
Young said they are turning over the information to the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation (OSBI).
Young said additional items, besides the budget protest, will be raised in the investigation, including the $513,000 in state fines acrued when the old jail failed to address violations. Young said the district attorney's office is "doing an admirable job" of trying to get the fines decreased. He said when looking at the history of the violations, the $500 per day fines reflect a willful neglect of maintenance of the jail.
"I've been in this business for 30 years, and never seen that type of fine levied," Young said.
He said there was a willful and repeated pattern of neglect, which the sheriff was responsible for since there was no jail trust authority at the time. After each violation, the jail was given 60 days to correct it, and most of the violations were something soap, water and bleach could have corrected, Young said.
Young said other items of concern by the county commissioners are irregularities in the payment of insurance, and the continued payment of insurance for one former county employee who died more than five years ago.
Young said the county is also paying an unusual number of late fees to vendors. The commissioners are asking for an investigation by the OSBI, and they gathering documents to see how much late fees the county has paid and why, Young said.
"We're trying to figure out who is doing this and why there are problems," Young said.
A hearing will be required to enable witnesses to be subpoenaed, Young said.
"I think a subpoena is a wonderful thing," Young said.
Young said he has sent a letter to the OSBI asking for an investigation, and he spoke to District Attorney Richard Gray Tuesday. Young said the law prohibits Gray from taking sides or getting involved in a dispute between county officials.
"It is truly unfortunate, but I think there is going to be some turmoil around here," Young said.
Young said he felt concerned that the county commissioner's side of the story was not being told, and he hopes litigation will resolve the issues.
"We are going to get to the bottom of it," Young said. "We want to know the truth."
County Clerk Donna Jamison said the district attorney, state auditor's office, and the attorney general will handle the situation.
"I don't have anything to say about it," Jamison said Tuesday.
Excise Board Chairman Dan Shamblin Jr. of Muldrow said the excise board has not seen the protest, but he thinks it is a protest on the amounts appropriated for each office in the county budget.
"In my opinion, we did what we had to do to have the county operate sound," Shamblin said.
Shamblin said the county officers need to stop calling each other names, sit down and act like adults, and not let personal feelings get in the way.
"This is taxpayer money," Shamblin said.
Last year, the sheriff's department received $587,000, which was also used to run the jail for the year. Shamblin said this year the sheriff operated on temporary appropriations since the fiscal year began, and the county commissioners wanted to cut the sheriff's budget down to $373,000. He said the excise board felt that the sheriff could not operate on that amount, and the board decided that the sheriff also needed more deputies so they gave him back the funding.
This year the sheriff requested $588,119.60 and received $558,252.68 from the excise board, which includes an additional $70,000 for running the jail for four months.
"This fussing. I've been there 18 years this month, and it's the worst I've seen it," Shamblin said.
Shamblin said that he has had no cross words with the county commissioners, and the excise board did what they had to do to make the county operate.
Shamblin said three district attorneys have said that the excise board has the final say.
"If we don't have any say so, we shouldn't be up there," Shamblin said.
Shamblin also said the county officers need to tell the truth about the amount of funding they need.
"The county commissioners do the estimate of needs and we make the final decision," Shamblin said.
He said his understanding is that any citizen has a right to file a protest. The protest will be sent to the state auditor and the state auditor sends it to the attorney general for the decision, Shamblin said. If the attorney general can't make a decision, then three federal judges are appointed to decide, which is what Shamblin said may have to happen.
