Nowata County commissioners select new sheriff
Nowata County commissioners selected Sandy Hadley as interim sheriff in a split vote Wednesday after unanimously rescinding the appointment of Erich Richter, whom a judge on Monday refused to swear in.
Board Chairman Bud Frost and Commissioner Doug Sonenberg voted for Hadley’s appointment, while Commissioner Curtis Barnes dissented.
Hadley, 52, lives in Nowata and had been a supervisor for three years with the Department of Corrections in Claremore, according to her resume. She began with the department as a probation and parole officer in 2006.
Hadley also spent 13 years as an assistant district supervisor with the Office of Juvenile Affairs.
“I like a challenge,” Hadley said. “This is going to be the biggest challenge of my life.
“There’s good people here, we’ll work together and make this a very good, competent office that people can rely on.”
After the commission meeting, Barnes declined to talk about why he voted against appointing Hadley.
Frost noted that Hadley was on the finalist list for interim sheriff on Monday. He said it was difficult for him to choose between her and Richter on Monday and should have gone with Hadley over Richter to begin with.
Sonenberg highlighted that Hadley understands the criminal justice and juvenile systems. She also is certified by the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training and a former reserve deputy with Nowata County, he said.
“She’s got a full range of what it takes to be sheriff or an administrator, she knows all the different aspects of the job,” Sonenberg said.
Hadley said she is committed to the safety of the community, the jail’s inmates and her employees. She said she’s taking a pay cut to lead and rebuild the agency.
“It’s just in my heart,” Hadley said.
The 2-1 vote came without discussion after the board met in executive session to talk privately about what to do.
The commissioners on Monday unanimously chose Richter as interim sheriff. However, the district court judge wouldn’t swear him in because he didn’t live in Nowata County, and the District Attorney’s Office supported the judge’s decision.
Richter was stricken from the special election ballot for Tulsa County sheriff in December 2015 for switching political parties — twice — too close to the filing period for the race. The Tulsa World vetted Richter’s law enforcement history during his short-lived campaign and uncovered a trail of complaints and disciplinary actions from stints at two prior agencies.
The Nowata County sheriff’s office has been in disarray with the abrupt resignations of upper-level officials and budget woes plaguing the agency.
The county clerk told commissioners in a public meeting on March 13 that she was unable to determine how deep a financial hole the sheriff’s office was in because the office didn’t use “proper accounting procedures.”
That revelation followed the sudden resignations of Sheriff Rick Miller, Undersheriff Billy Scott and Jail Administrator Michael Scott within two weeks of each other in late February and early March.
Those three were only the latest in a wave of employee exits from the agency, according to records obtained by the Tulsa World. Hadley will serve until voters can elect a sheriff in November 2018 to fill the second half of Miller’s four-year term. Hadley said she intends to run in that special election.