Some of Tulsa’s most contentious criminal justice issues sparked disagreements — and at times personal attacks — among mayoral candidates during a debate Thursday.
Since last year, Tulsa officials, including Mayor GT Bynum, have been locked in a federal lawsuit over whether the city can collect traffic tickets from Native Americans. The courts have ruled in favor of the tribes, who cite their sovereignty as a reason traffic tickets should not be collected by the city government.
And this year, public attention is focused on allegations of abuse at Tulsa County’s Family Center for Juvenile Justice. Thirty incarcerated youth have filed lawsuits against county commissioners – including mayoral candidate Karen Keith – and jail staff.
The discussion about the youth center led to a heated debate between Keith and state Rep. Monroe Nichols during Thursday afternoon’s debate in Cain’s Ballroom.
Keith and Nichols shared the stage with businessman Brent VanNorman. VanNorman and Keith supported the city’s current approach to traffic enforcement for local drivers, while Nichols was in favor of dropping the litigation.
Tribal sovereignty
While VanNorman and Keith believe the city should have full jurisdiction over traffic laws, their stances on the issue differed.
The Muscogee Nation accused the city and Bynum in a lawsuit of illegally collecting traffic tickets from Muscogee citizens. Almost all of Tulsa lies on Muscogee and Cherokee reservations, which are federally protected under the Supreme Court ruling that requires all Native American defendants to be tried in federal or tribal courts.
As the lawsuit continues, Bynum is pushing for a partnership between the tribe and the community to address and resolve the legal issues.
Keith said her approach will be similar to Bynum’s: advocating for local jurisdiction but working with tribes.
“We have the authority to do that, but I want to meet with our leaders and nations and talk about the best way forward,” she said.
Keith said she has spoken with tribes about building a tribal court in a new district court building planned for downtown Tulsa.
While VanNorman also supported working with the tribes, he stressed that the issue also concerns public safety.
“You can’t allow someone to drive differently in the city and break the law just because they have a different license plate. If someone is here from Kansas, we expect our police to stop them and give them a ticket,” he said.
The moderator of the debate, Tres Savage, made it clear that anyone can make an arrest or issue a ticket for a traffic violation. What matters is where the crime or ticket is judged.
Nichols was the only candidate who said he did not support the city deciding traffic fines for local drivers.
“It’s the law, and we’re going to make sure we drop those lawsuits, and we’re going to make sure we agree on a position that the community, the city and the tribes agree on with someone in the office who will make sure we always do that,” he said.
Nichols also announced that he would appoint a director of tribal policy and partnerships to the mayor’s office.
Tulsa County Family Center for Juvenile Justice
For both of her opponents, particularly Nichols, a sticking point was whether Keith could have helped prevent the alleged abuses and violations at the Tulsa County Family Center for Juvenile Justice.
Keith and the other two Tulsa County commissioners took over the center in July from Juvenile Judge Kevin Gray. Under Gray, the center violated state child welfare regulations and faced numerous allegations of sexual abuse by prison guards.
Records show that Child Services brought issues such as room restriction, complaint procedures and security deficiencies to the attention of commissioners as early as May 2022. Commissioners also made recommendations for improvement to Gray in 2023, when the center was on probation.
The sexual abuse allegations came to light in May of this year when the Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice released statements after a prison guard was charged for allegedly having sex with a teenage girl in his cell.
“We learned about these recent allegations at the same time as you did,” said Keith, who pointed out that under state law, county commissioners in Oklahoma do not typically have jurisdiction over personnel matters at youth centers.
In his criticism of Keith, Nichols pointed out that OJA reported the problems to commissioners as early as 2022.
“When you’re mayor, you can’t just wake up and say something isn’t your job,” Nichols said.
Keith said commissioners were “relying on a state agency” to inform them of problems at the center after parole ends in December 2023.
Keith also fired back at Nichols over a May 30 statement he released shortly after the teens filed their lawsuit in federal court. In the statement, Nichols accused Keith of touting the center she had pushed for construction so highly, and said the actual conditions for the detained teens were “anything but pleasant.”
“He found out on May 1st, and three weeks later he had his appointment with the OJA. But what did he do? The day before the meeting, before he met with the OJA, before he found out the real facts, he issued his manifesto. They gave him some ideas on what to pursue. They never heard from him again. He just made his political arguments, and that’s what he wanted,” she said.
“That’s what I would expect from someone who is named as a defendant in a lawsuit alleging that he maintained the environment in which this occurred,” Nichols said. “Yes, there was some time between the incident, but if it was three weeks, I can tell you it was a lot shorter than two years. And at the end of the day, you can say whatever you want, that I was late to the party or something like that.”
Keith claimed that county commissioners have received positive reports from the youth agency since taking over the center and appointing a new commissioner in July. Public Radio Tulsa requested those reports.
VanNorman also acknowledged that commissioners knew about the conditions at the youth center years before they were made public. He said it was the mayor’s job to take responsibility for the alleged abuses.
