‘Insufficiencies’ delay county assessor’s hearing

District Judge Jeffrey Payton on Thursday ruled that allegations stipulated in the Sequoyah County Board of County Commissioners’ Feb. 24 accusation for removal of County Assessor Brandy Dobbs are insufficient, and delayed a hearing in the case until April 10 to allow amendments and response for the parties.

The commissioners are seeking the suspension of Dobbs from the assessor’s office, having cited 20 instances of “willful maladministration in violation of her statutory duties.”

Dobbs’ attorney, Steve Hickman from the Tulsa law firm of Frasier, Frasier and Hickman, filed an objection Thursday morning as to the sufficiency of the allegations, saying that Oklahoma statute “requires that the accusations must be stated in such a manner as to enable a person of common understanding to know what was intended.”

Steve Hickman

Citing case law, Hickman said “it is important to allege the facts which are going to be borne out at trial, with evidentiary proof, and that the civil requirements of fact pleading must be strictly applied, because the more rigorous requirements of a criminal indictment are not necessary.”

Hickman said that in the civil code, “things such as time are material,” noting that the accusations said “prior to the 24th day of February 2025, which was the day the accusation was handed down. Not a single one of them states when what happened supposedly happened, or the circumstances of what supposedly happened. It’s just the generality that does not enable a person of common understanding to know when any particular event happened or even what the events are on most of them or what things they’re claiming or not claiming, which is just exactly what Russell versus Henderson wanted to happen.”

Hickman alleged that virtually all of the 20 paragraphs included in the accusation “are all generalities,” and asked for specifics and how the alleged acts “becomes a willful maladministration.”

“Even the allegation is contrary to what is required,” he told Payton.

Citing the first three paragraphs of the accusation, which refer to compliancy of the state audit, Hickman said “each of those audits is more than six months old. The Board of County Commissioners has been discussing them since August, and now all of a sudden it becomes an emergency. Well the audits say that she has until the end of March to come into compliance, and that whether she’s in compliance or not would be measured in May or June. So why is there a rush here?”

Kevin Merritt

LeFlore County District Attorney Kevin Merritt, who was assigned to represent the plaintiff when Sequoyah County District Attorney Jack Thorp recused himself from the case, did not agree with Hickman’s contention.

“We do feel that the majority of the allegations in the accusation for removal are sufficient with respect to years that certain taxes were assessed,” Merritt told Payton.

“Paragraphs 1 through 11 are alleged specifically enough under the statute and the authority cited by the defendant. With respect to Paragraph 12, it does appear that it would need to be more specifically pled based on the legal authority provided.”

Merritt said he believed Paragraphs 13 through 19 “are sufficiently pled under the statute,” and appealed to Payton to allow the plaintiff “to proceed under the accusation as presented and filed, and/or leave to amend any of the allegations that the court believes are not sufficiently alleged.”

Payton agreed that amending the accusations appeared to be appropriate.

Judge Jeffrey Payton

“I have to agree that some of the accusations for removal are insufficient, as you agree, although some of them, I feel, are,” the judge said.

Payton then allowed the commissioners 10 days to amend the accusations, then an additional 10 days for the defense to respond or reply.

Amendments must be submitted by March 27, and defense must respond by March 27.

A hearing is set for 10 a.m. April 10 for a ruling on sufficiency, then if ruled sufficient, an opportunity for Dobbs to plea and a hearing as to the temporary suspension sought.

Payton said the next jury trial docket is May 12-23, “if it got to the point where we needed a jury trial.”

Payton also recommended that the attorneys expedite an abbreviated discovery schedule to accommodate the shortened timetable.

The allegations

The commissioners allege that Dobbs failed to meet the requirements set forth by the Oklahoma Tax Commission (OTC), which dipped the assessor’s office into Level One non-compliance, and that the office subsequently was designated as Level Two non-compliant by the State Board of Equalization (SBOE), despite numerous attempts by the OTC to provide guidance. According to the filing with the court clerk’s office, Sequoyah County is the only Oklahoma county to be classified at the two non-compliant levels.

The accusations also point to errors in the assessor’s office for the three most recent tax years as being responsible for a loss of $1.15 million for the county and school districts, and a loss of about $332 million in taxable value for county properties.

The commissioners also claim that the assessor’s office filed conflicting documentation for payroll and time accrual, and committed a series of compounded and excessive errors in the preparation of the tax roll that imposed an undue burden and expense on other county offices. There are also multiple additional charges of the assessor’s office failing to update and maintain records, which resulted in “substantial loss of revenue to the county,” as well as a failure by the office to maintain regular office hours and sufficient staff.

The accusations also cite instances of refusing to provide records to other county offices, misrepresenting the assessor’s office’s progress in the deed processing backlog and an inconsistency in applying annual valuation increases, resulting in a “huge loss” in taxable value.

Following the plan

Dobbs is represented by Steve Hickman from the Tulsa law firm of Frasier, Frasier and Hickman. Hickman maintains Dobbs and her office have simply been following a course of action set forth by the OTC. He says whenever Dobbs was given a course of action, even if the plan deviated from the way the office had done business for years, “she’s gone in and done it differently.”

Brandy Dobbs

“In fact, she’s gone in and checked, what we in the legal business call the green books — the Oklahoma statutes, and found other things, and has corrected them,” Hickman said in defense of Dobbs.

“Ms. Dobbs has worked at the assessor’s office for a number of years, after she had worked in the real estate-related business many years before. She became chief deputy, and then when the county assessor resigned, the board of county commissioners appointed her, and she continued running the office as she had been taught,” Hickman explained. “About that time, the state has been more careful about teaching officers how to do their work. They’ve (the state) run a number of classes, and she and her staff have attended all the classes and learned a lot of things and have changed things, so she’s doing the best she can with what she knows, and as she learns something new, she does it right.”

Dobbs says she and her chief deputy are required to complete 60 hours of continuing education every three years, and that each member of her staff is required to complete 30 hours of continuing education in a three-year cycle in order to work for the county assessor’s office. Records show that Dobbs has completed 117 hours in the current cycle.

Dobbs has declined comment since the removal process began.

The memorandum

On July 15, 2024, Dobbs received an 11-page memorandum — Work Tasks for Compliance — from the Oklahoma Tax Commission Ad Valorem Division. Not only did the SBOE place the county in Category II non-compliance, but provided Dobbs with a written plan “to enable Sequoyah County to attain acceptable compliance status” with the SBOE.

The memorandum stipulated that the OTC’s Ad Valorem Division would “provide general assistance and direction” to the assessor’s office, and will conduct “regular reviews of work progress,” as well as “make determinations about performance of the various work tasks required.”

The memorandum further stipulated that “existing data in the Sequoyah County CAMA database appears to be reasonably accurate and may be utilized to generate values for 2025,” and that the county had “requalified its 2024 sales to better match OTC rules.”

The memorandum stipulated that if the outlined approaches are performed by the assessor’s office, along with the Ad Valorem Division monitoring and reviewing the county’s efforts throughout the implementation process, then the SBOE would, at its June 2025 meeting, be in a position to move the county into compliance.

At the outset of the assessor’s office implementing the OTC plan, the Ad Valorem Division even rendered an opinion “that the Sequoyah County Assessor’s Office and staff, with continuing training and assistance, will be capable of implementing the proposed steps necessary to achieve compliance.”

According to the plan, which includes generally accepted mass appraisal methodology, current steps are for the assessor’s office to work with the Centers for Local Government Technology at Oklahoma State University (CLGT/OSU) staff to “create new residential neighborhood factors that match current sale indicated fair cash value.”

Background

On Feb. 12, the commissioners voted unanimously to launch an inquiry for an accusation of removal of Dobbs as assessor, shifting Dobbs’ fate from the commissioners to the district attorney’s office. After that meeting, District 3 Commissioner Jim Rogers said audits that had been conducted and input received from the OTC were important in the commissioners’ decision to elevate the proceedings.

Because he represents all the county elected officials, Sequoyah County District Attorney Jack Thorp has recused himself from the case. LeFlore County District Attorney Kevin Merritt has been assigned to represent the plaintiff.

Thursday morning’s proceedings in Judge Jeffrey Payton’s courtroom were the first hearing in the case. It is expected that the case will be decided in a jury trial.

Oklahoma statutes stipulate eight reasons (22 O.S. § 1181, OSCN 2025) for removing an elected official from office. Although “willful maladministration” is one of the reasons, Hickman maintains Dobbs has not violated any reasons in the statute.

In a Feb. 13 prepared statement from the OTC, the agency said it “remains concerned about whether the Sequoyah County Assessor will take the necessary steps to address the assessment deficiencies that resulted in a Category II non-compliance finding by the State Board of Equalization. Additionally, there are ongoing concerns about the consistent application of proper valuation methodologies for Sequoyah County in future years.”

Furthermore, the OTC said the SBOE seems inclined to escalate penalties against the assessor’s office.

“During the December 1, 2024, SBOE meeting, some board members stated that if Sequoyah County’s assessment deficiencies are not corrected by the June 2025 meeting, they are prepared to move the county to Category III non-compliance,” the OTC statement said.

How it started

Discrepancies within the data in the county assessor’s office were discovered by Dobbs beginning in 2023, and she said her office began “diligently working” with the OTC and the CLGT/OSU “to address and correct those discrepancies.”

Beau Burlison

Jim Rogers

Ray Watts

“On July 12, 2024, my office sat down with the OTC and CLGT to outline a plan and steps necessary to rectify the discrepancies,” Dobbs said in August, noting that in the month that followed “we have already completed most of the items in the plan, which we received from the OTC.”

“We are confident we will be successful in meeting all deadlines outlined in the plan. As always, the assessor’s office is here for the taxpayers of Sequoyah County to answer any questions or concerns,” said Dobbs, who has been county assessor since June 2021. Prior to filling the vacancy left with Kelly Miller’s departure, Dobbs served as deputy tax assessor.

Dobbs also informed the commissioners about what she found and steps being taken by the assessor’s office to resolve any concerns.

Confidence expressed

Following the commissioners’ first executive session related to Dobbs in August, District 3 Commissioner Jim Rogers assured that the commissioners were monitoring the progress within the county assessor’s office, and said the board is committed to supporting Dobbs.

“As county commissioners, it’s our job to make sure that we oversee and make sure that any situation that comes up, that we address that situation,” Rogers said in August. “We feel like at this point — we’ve had an opportunity to visit with the OTC — and they feel like there’s a lot of improvement going on there.

“I want everybody to know this right here — we want that office to be successful. We want you to have what you need to be successful,” Rogers told Dobbs in August. “We want her office to be successful, we want you guys to be successful, we want you to have what you need to be successful. The last thing we want to do is take anybody’s job.

“Like I said, the auditors have stated that things are looking good, that we’re getting to a point that things are improving. So hopefully we continue on that path,” Rogers said in August.

District 2 Commissioner Beau Burlison reiterated in August that the commissioners want the county assessor’s office — and every county office — to be successful, and District 1 Commissioner Ray Watts added, “We had all the confidence in the world of her — still do. All three of us appointed her. There’s a lot of confidence in Brandy.”

Besides, as Rogers admitted, the commissioners are still trying to understand practices within the county assessor’s office — “this is pretty Greek to all of us. It’s a crash course, and we’re learning on the fly.”