Sheriffs upset with ‘bully’ state legislator
Oklahoma sheriffs are complaining about a state legislator who has criticized their private association.
One sheriff last week called Rep. Bobby Cleveland a misguided “bully” and demanded a public apology.
“I believe that declaring war on a nonprofit that represents and provides support to Oklahoma sheriffs is a strange and reckless dereliction of duty for any state official,” Canadian County Sheriff Chris West said in a news release sent to The Oklahoman and other media.
The news release was entitled “Attacks On Sheriffs Are Attacks On Oklahomans.”
Cleveland, R-Slaughterville, is not backing down.
“I have nothing to apologize for,” he said Sunday.
Cleveland has spoken out against the Oklahoma Sheriffs’ Association over its role in a program that charges criminals 30 percent more if their overdue fines are turned over to a collection agency.
A federal civil rights lawsuit now pending in Tulsa seeks an end to the collection program. The lawsuit describes the program as an extortion scheme that targets the poor.
Cleveland has criticized both the program itself and how much the association makes off it. The Oklahoman reported in November that the association has made more than $4 million off its role administering the program. Those familiar with the program said the association does very little for the money it makes.
“It’s as wrong as wrong can be,” Cleveland told The
Oklahoman in November. Cleveland also has complained the association operates “in darkness” even though it gets public funds. He went to Attorney General Mike Hunter for an opinion.
In December, the attorney general determined the association must make its meetings and certain records open to the public.
West in his news release described the association as “a vital resource for sheriffs in their mission to serve and protect Oklahomans.”
West said the association has worked to provide more than 5,400 hours of training to sheriffs and their departments since 2005. He said it also “creates a community where sheriffs can build relationships with one another, share resources and better serve their constituencies.”
“As bullies only respond to solidarity and strength, we, as sheriffs, and the OSA are collectively prepared to face Rep. Cleveland head on in order to protect Oklahomans from harm,” West said.
Cleveland is planning to push for passage of legislation this year that could reduce the association’s role in the fine collection program. He said association leaders already have tried to have him removed as chairman of the House Public Safety Committee.
He vowed not to be silenced or stopped in “my efforts to have better government available for all Oklahomans.”
“Nobody likes to be attacked personally, to be labeled a bully, or to suffer intimidation by organizations such as a powerful law enforcement association,” Cleveland said. “However, I was elected to represent the interest of the people and not special interest groups.”
Sheriffs were particularly upset over a Dec. 12 online news account about Cleveland’s legislative plans for the association. He was quoted in eCapitol as saying, “They’re like amafia.”
“I take this personally,” Haskell County Sheriff Tim Turner stated in a Facebook post in December. “I personally feel that Representative Cleveland is now targeting the Oklahoma Sheriffs and has forgot what our citizens need and that is to feel safe.”
Cleveland said Sunday his “mafia” comment was directed at the threatening way some collection agencies operate. “It was not meant to the sheriffs’ association,” he said.