NORMAN, OK – Cleveland County Commissioners have selected long-time law enforcement officer and current State Senator Darrell Weaver to take on the role of sheriff, sidestepping calls from current Acting Sheriff Mike Finley for a special election and an FBI investigation into the County.
Finley stepped into the acting role less than two months ago after the forced resignation of previous Cleveland County Sheriff Chris Amason following his “no contest” plea to sweeping embezzlement charges, and those charges are believed to be at the center of Finley’s still-cryptic calls for an FBI review of County records.
Those calls have so far gone unheeded as commissioners instead focused on celebrating their new appointee.
“I told you guys we were gonna get a rock star,” District 2 Commissioner Jacob McHughes said at a press conference Monday announcing Weaver’s selection for sheriff, “and today we did.”
No FBI investigation happening
In comments from a June 8th meeting of the Cleveland County Commissioners, Finley made clear his belief that an investigation should take place.
“Based on information obtained through an Open Records/FOIA request, I have become aware of information and concerns that I believe warrant further review by the appropriate authorities,” Finley said. “Given the nature of these concerns, I respectfully request that the matter be referred to the Federal Bureau of Investigation Public Corruption Division for an independent review and determination of whether any violations of law have occurred.”
He did not elaborate on the “nature of these concerns.”
In a conversation with Free Press Monday, Cleveland County Director of Communications Alyse Moore made clear that Finley’s calls for an FBI review have not gone forward.
“There was never an investigation being done,” Moore said. “The FBI, to our knowledge, was not called.”
According to Moore, neither the County Commissioners nor Cleveland County District Attorney Jennifer Austin have been made aware of any reason to investigate County records, and any formal request to the FBI would need to be made by the Sheriff’s Office.
The Sheriff’s Office has not responded to requests for comments from Free Press about the status of an FBI investigation.
No special election
Finley made one other ask to the County Commissioners at this June 8th meeting.
“I respectfully request,” said Finley, “that the Board of County Commissioners suspend or forgo the current sheriff appointment process,” offering that a special election by the citizens of Cleveland County be held in order to build trust in County leadership.
That request was denied in a statement offered by the County Commissioners on June 8th who quoted a statute reading “all vacancies in County offices except the board of county commissioners…shall be filled by appointment by the board of county commissioners.”
Regarding Finley’s request that the position be filled by election instead of appointment by the commissioners, Moore told Free Press that the commissioners “took their time” and “did their due diligence” in making their selection.
“This was not a rushed process at all,” she said. “They did background checks on every single applicant. They interviewed nine candidates. They have an obligation to appoint someone to the Sheriff’s position, so if they paused and waited for a hypothetical [investigation], it wouldn’t be fair to the residents of Cleveland County.”
The new appointee
At a press conference earlier today, all three Cleveland County Commissioners gave opening remarks to introduce Weaver as their new appointee to the office of sheriff.
“He will create positive culture within the department and serve Cleveland County residents well,” McHughes said.
“We wanted to find the best person and the right person for the job,” said District 3 County Commissioner Rusty Grissom, “and I believe we found that in Sheriff Weaver.”
Weaver, who is from Moore, has served as the District 24 senator in the Oklahoma State Senate since his election in 2018, and before running for office, spent more than two decades with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, including nine years as the agency’s director.
In his own opening remarks, Weaver said “my path has been about public service, and really about public safety.”
He wrapped up the press conference saying that he intends to emphasize integrity, accountability (specifying “accountability with budgets”), and service to the community.
Weaver talks budget, responds to call for County investigation
Weaver also expressed his interest in reviewing the budget after the mishandling of funds by Amason, saying he wants to “look at the numbers” and that “the number one thing is the budget,” while also listing the Cleveland County Detention Center as a focus.
When Weaver was asked at the press conference about the request for an FBI investigation into the County, he said “I was aware of what happened… I don’t know the content.”
Weaver stated that he looked into the issue briefly online and couldn’t “find what the concern was,” while adding that it was “not in [his] circle of influence” when Finley made his statement.
“I’ve not got one whiff of anything that something was done inappropriately,” Weaver said.
Weaver resigning State Senate seat
At Monday’s press conference, Weaver said that he’d already decided not to run for re-election before being appointed as Cleveland County Sheriff.
“I believe in life you have seasons,” he said, indicating that his season as a senator has come to a close.
Weaver said he plans to resign from his Senate seat on July 5th.
He will be sworn in officially as the next Cleveland County Sheriff on July 6th.
Tyler Smothers is a local, an Okie, and a poet living in Oklahoma City with his wife, Sadye, and their animals, Toby and Oscar.
He teaches medieval history and literature to 7th graders and loves everything from "Canterbury Tales" to "Mrs. Dalloway."
