Feud between commissioner and Sheriff’s office revealed once again

Calvey vs. Okla County Sheriff

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In an otherwise unremarkable meeting of the Oklahoma County Board of County Commissioners, ongoing acrimony between one Commissioner and the Sheriff’s Office came to the forefront.

How the sausage gets made

Local government according to columnist Marty Peercy

About a car

The consent docket for Wednesday’s meeting of the BoCC, an item usually passed without discussion, was put on hold by District 3 Commissioner Kevin Calvey.

He said that he would like to strike item 3 from the agenda. The item in question was to deem surplus some inventory from the Sheriff’s Office in order to sell it at auction.

The property specifically is a 2010 Dodge Charger. When a state audit was done last year, this vehicle was listed as “missing.” When this item came before the Board in the past, Calvey stated that he was uncomfortable declaring an item as eligible for sale when he wasn’t sure it was actually in the Sheriff’s possession.

Oklahoma County Jail
Danny Honeycutt, legal counsel for the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Department addresses the Jail Trust in 2019. (Brett Dickerson/Okla City Free Press)

Danny Honeycutt, Sheriff’s Counsel, provided a picture of the car previously, but today Calvey said that he needed to hear from the Auditor before moving forward on the item. Honeycutt explained that the audit in question was done in haste.

“The auditors missed the chairs they were sitting in,” Honeycutt told the Board, “and that’s not hyperbole,” he continued, “They reported as missing the chairs they were sitting in while doing the audit.”

“Blaming the State Auditor?”

“So now you’re blaming the State Auditor?” Calvey fired back.

“I’m not blaming anybody,” Honeycutt replied. “What I’m doing is saying this audit was beneficial to the [Sheriff’s] Office to show some areas where we could improve processes.”

“But, at the same time I’m cognizant that this audit was deficient in a lot of different manners,” Honeycutt explained. “It missed a lot of items. To whit: they couldn’t find the chairs they were sitting in.”

Ultimately, the board agreed to strike the item from the agenda with the understanding that Honeycutt would request that the Auditor confirm the existence of the phantom car in the Sheriff’s possession.

Ongoing feud

This was just the latest in what some would consider to be an ongoing feud between the District 3 Commissioner and the Sheriff’s Office.

Since taking office, Calvey has criticized the Sheriff for conditions at the Oklahoma County Detention Center, even after a Trust was empaneled to take over operations of the jail.

Those comments have gone both ways.

Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Mark Myers took to Twitter on Wednesday and responded to the exchange between Calvey and Honeycutt. “It’s [Calvey’s animosity] blatantly obvious and a slap in the face to the women & men who risk their lives protecting citizens in Oklahoma County.”

Myers declined to comment further on the meeting, saying that he would prefer to let Mr. Honeycutt’s interaction at the meeting stand.

“Find a way”

District 1 Commissioner Carrie Blumert encouraged cooperation between the two elected officials.

“I hope Commissioner Calvey and Sheriff Taylor can find ways to work together for the good of Oklahoma County,” Blumert offered. “When leaders who disagree find a way to listen to each other and find agreements, it’s better for our whole community.”

The Board of County Commissioners meets again on Monday, March 2, at 9:00 a.m. Commissioner Calvey and Sheriff P.D. Taylor or their designees will meet with the Jail Trust on the same day at 1:00 p.m.

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Columnist covering local government in Oklahoma City and Oklahoma County from May 2019 through June 2023.