Oklahoma County DA candidate has arrest record
Jacqui Ford has had 2 run-ins with officers
An Oklahoma County district attorney candidate, who is promising to work alongside law enforcement and rebuild relationships, has had run-ins with officers in the past.
Jacqui Ford was charged in 2009 with a misdemeanor after a confrontation with a Craig County sheriff’s deputy outside a bar, court records show. The deputy reported having to pepper spray her in the face to complete her arrest.
In 2010, Ford was taken by Oklahoma City police to the detox center after a confrontation at the state fair, police records show.
She told The Oklahoman in a written statement the accusations against her were baseless.
“The fact is charges were never pursued,” she said.
“The politics of personal destruction and tabloid-style gossip is why voters are turned off by today’s politics,” Ford said. “I am excited by the groundswell of support for my campaign based on the Republican values of accountability, transparency and accessibility that is resonating across Oklahoma County.”
The outspoken criminal defense lawyer announced her candidacy in August. The election is next year.
Also in the race are two other Republicans — Gayland Gieger, an Oklahoma County assistant district attorney, and Robert W. Gray, a criminal defense lawyer.
Both said they have never been arrested nor charged with a crime.
Seeking to be elected district attorney with an arrest record is unusual in Oklahoma but not unprecedented. In 1986, well-known defense attorney Mike Gassaway stayed in the race for Oklahoma County district attorney even after being sentenced to six months in federal prison for a tax offense.
He was defeated by the then-incumbent, Bob Macy.
Ford lives in Nichols Hills and became an attorney in Oklahoma in 2006. She is 42.
She was charged in September 2009 in Craig County District Court with resisting an officer, obstructing an officer and public intoxication.
Prosecutors dropped all three misdemeanor counts a month later. “Dismissal will best serve the ends of justice,” an assistant district attorney told the judge.
The sheriff’s deputy reported Ford confronted him as he tried to arrest a male subject in the parking lot of the Grand Lodge bar in Ketchum early Sept. 7, 2009.
Deputy Travis Fleming reported he then arrested Ford, pepper spraying her for two seconds when she struggled with him.
He reported she had “a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on her person and ... admitted to drinking.”
“Later in the book in process Ms. Ford stated, ‘I should be drunker for spending ninety bucks,’” the deputy wrote in a court affidavit.
In the other incident, a police officer reported Ford “walked up to us and began to make a scene and seemed to be extremely intoxicated.”
Oklahoma City police had just arrested two male subjects at the state fair late Sept. 17, 2010, and were checking for any outstanding warrants, according to the report.
Ford, then an assistant Oklahoma County public defender, was transported “to the Oklahoma City detox, where she was admitted in,” according to the report.
No charges were filed against her over that incident.
Ford, in her announcement in August, talked of “rebuilding relationships with agencies whose missions intersect with that of the district attorney’s office.”
“Ford is committed to working alongside law enforcement to bridge the gaps in communication, education, and trust,” the announcement said.
The current district attorney, David Prater, is not running for reelection and will complete his term in January 2023.