Sheriff John Whetsel to retire
Oklahoma County Sheriff John Whetsel is retiring, a decision that avoids the possibility of being forced out anyway once an investigation of his office is complete.
His last day is March 1.
Whetsel, a Democrat, has been sheriff 20 years and was last re-elected in a close vote in November. He announced his retirement Wednesday.
“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith, and now this is the season and the time for my retirement,” Whetsel, 67, wrote in a letter delivered to the Oklahoma County clerk and the governor. “I thank the citizens for allowing me to serve them.”
He wrote he is convinced new leadership is required to solve the problems with the aging and deteriorating county jail and to address persistent funding woes that make it difficult to hire and keep employees.
A new jail is needed, he wrote.
An investigation into allegations of financial mismanagement at the sheriff’s office has been underway for months.
The state auditor did a special audit of the sheriff’s office last year at the request of District Attorney David Prater. In an Oct. 18 report, auditors concluded, “All funds were not expended in a lawful manner.”
A day after the election in November, county commissioners asked
Prater to keep investigating. Prosecutors have been preparing to present witnesses to the state’s new multicounty grand jury, which next meets Feb. 27.
Prater could have asked for an ouster petition from the grand jury. If the grand jury had agreed, Whetsel would have faced a trial before six jurors to determine whether he remained in office. Whetsel also would have faced significant legal expenses defending himself.
Despite the retirement, the investigation into the sheriff’s office is going forward.
“We’ll continue to look into matters that we’ve been tasked to investigate,” Prater said Wednesday.
County Commissioner Brian Maughan said Wednesday he supports completing the investigation. “I want the truth to still be brought out,” said Maughan, the current chairman of the board of county commissioners.
The special audit specifically criticized Whetsel for not paying the jail’s medical bills for months in 2015 “even though funds were available at the time payment was due.”
Armor Correctional Health Services Inc. provides medical care to inmates. The Florida company filed a breach of contract lawsuit over the unpaid bills. It was awarded $3.3 million in June. If an appeal fails, county property owners may have to pay the award, through increased taxes over three years.
“There was no money missing. There were no funds embezzled,” Whetsel told county commissioners in November. “I have accepted responsibility for the errors that were made. We either have or are working to address every single item identified in the audit. Perfect we are not and never will be.”
Whetsel said again in November that difficult decisions had to be made in fiscal year 2015 because of a historic budget shortfall.
Whetsel has explained further in the past that the medical bills didn’t get paid because of an unexpected loss of income from the state Corrections Department. Whetsel also has faced repeated criticism over overcrowding at the jail, instances of jail violence and the high number of jail deaths. The jail — originally built to hold 1,200 inmates — held 2,348 inmates Wednesday.
His Republican opponent, former state Rep. Mike Christian, called the jail a “tower of terror.” Christian will announce Thursday whether he will be a candidate for sheriff again in a special election.
Whetsel has been in law enforcement for 50 years and was the Choctaw police chief when he was first elected sheriff.
“I apologize to those who may feel I have let them down by my retirement,” he wrote. “That is not my intent. I am doing what I think is best for the future of the Sheriff’s Office.”
The undersheriff will take over until the special election is held later this year, officials said. The current undersheriff is P.D. Taylor.