A Rogers County citizen has filed a citizens' grand jury petition in the Rogers County District Court, naming the Mayor of Claremore, nine city council members, the City Manager, the Town of Inola, the REDI Trust Authority, the Rogers County Board of Commissioners, and a web of outside attorneys and developers. The petition, filed July 7, 2026, demands a grand jury investigate whether public officials committed criminal violations of the Open Meeting Act and Open Records Act while secretly negotiating a massive data center in Claremore and a $2.6 billion foreign-owned aluminum smelter at the Port of Inola.
The filing doesn't just allege vague wrongdoing. It cites specific text messages, billing invoices, emails, and agenda items, documents obtained through public records requests that the City of Claremore tried to block with a $65,000 fee.
The NDA That Bound a City to Silence
According to the petition, City Manager John W. Feary signed a non-disclosure agreement with the developer behind "Project Mustang," a data center project, binding the entire City of Claremore to secrecy. No city council vote. No open meeting. No public notice. Individual council members were then allegedly instructed that the NDA prevented them from discussing the project with the public at all.
The petition cites billing invoices from the Center for Economic Development Law showing months of confidential legal work on Project Mustang beginning in August 2025, more than eight months before the first public hearing in May 2026. The City's own public notice later acknowledged discussions had been happening "over the past several months."
BCC'd Into Secrecy
One of the most damning allegations involves a single email. On March 2, 2026, City Manager Feary forwarded a resident's inquiry to outside counsel and wrote, in his own words: "I have bcc'd the Council on this email." The blind-copy recipients included substantially the entire Claremore City Council.
In that same message, Feary described the resident's inquiry as not warranting a response and advised "that the Council also refrain being dragged into these engagements." The petition alleges this was not an isolated incident, that Feary routinely used mass BCC emails to align the council's position outside of any noticed public meeting, a practice that could constitute an illegal "walking quorum" under Oklahoma law.
Two Groups, One Scheme
Text messages obtained through records requests reveal what the petition describes as a deliberate scheme to evade the Open Meeting Act entirely. On February 6, 2026, Feary texted a developer representative to arrange private meetings between the developer and council members, writing that the purpose was to "solidify next Monday's meet & greets with a few councilors."
He proposed splitting them into "2 groups one at 3:30 and the next at 5 or 5:15 here at Claremore City Hall." Two sub-quorum groups, each below the threshold that triggers public notice requirements, but together comprising a majority of the nine-member council. No agenda was posted. No public notice was given. No member of the public was allowed to attend.
$65,000 to See Your Own Records
When a journalist submitted an Open Records Act request about the project, the City responded with a fee demand of approximately $65,000. Oklahoma law categorically prohibits the imposition of search fees on news-media requesters. The petition alleges this was a deliberate weapon, not a bureaucratic error, designed to kill the request.
The day after that records request was filed, City Manager Feary personally issued trespass notices banning two working journalists from all City property, including City Hall. He then sent an email titled "Notice of Trespass Durbins" to the council distribution list and more than 266 additional recipients, directing police to take enforcement action. No council vote authorized the trespass. No meeting was held.
Inola's Emergency Clause Maneuver
The petition doesn't stop at Claremore. It names the Town of Inola, where officials allegedly used emergency clauses to ram through ordinances establishing a tax-increment financing district for the Port of Inola smelter project. On January 12, 2026, a public hearing was opened and closed within minutes, followed immediately by a vote adopting the ordinance with an emergency clause making it effective instantly, eliminating the ordinary period for public response or referendum.
Weeks later, a second ordinance was passed specifically to "ratify and confirm" the first one. The petition argues this tacit admission that the original ordinance was defective only underscores how rushed and irregular the process was.
The petition also alleges that invitation-only dinners were held at a barbecue restaurant in Pryor on three consecutive nights, hosted by the mayor's spouse, from which known project opponents were deliberately excluded. Project promoters paid for the meals. At least two members of the governing body attended.
39 Citizens Turned Away at the Door
When the Project Mustang data center finally came before the Claremore City Council for a public hearing on May 4, 2026, residents were turned away at the door. The petition documents that 39 people recorded their names and addresses after being denied entry "due to capacity limit."
The petition alleges this was not accidental. City officials knew the project had generated massive public opposition, referendum activity, and press interest. They held the hearing in a room they knew was too small. The petition asks the grand jury to investigate whether this was a deliberate tactic to suppress public participation, as effective as a locked door.
The Petition for a Referendum They Said Was Never Filed
When citizens filed referendum petitions challenging three Claremore ordinances, the City rejected them. The stated reason: the petitioners had failed to file a copy of the petition before circulating it for signatures. According to the grand jury petition, that statement was false. A copy was timely filed.
The petition asks the grand jury to investigate whether this knowingly false assertion was made in concert by the City Clerk, the City Manager, and the City's attorney, and whether it constituted fraud, a knowingly false official statement, or a conspiracy to deprive Claremore citizens of their lawful right of referendum.
Who's Named
Claremore: Mayor Debbie Long, Deputy Mayor Herb McSpadden, all seven ward councilors, City Manager John W. Feary, City Clerk Sarah Sharp, CIEDA Executive Director Meggie Froman-Knight, and attorneys from Rosenstein, Fist & Ringold and the Center for Economic Development Law.
Inola: Mayor Darlene Shear, Vice Mayor Dan Corle, three trustees, Town Administrator Scott Devers, Town Clerk Jayce Springer, Town Attorney Tommy Dyer Jr., and the leadership of the REDI Trust Authority.
Rogers County: The Board of County Commissioners, whose own agendas the petition alleges used identical boilerplate "economic development" executive session language to hide deliberations about the same projects.
What Happens Next
The petition has been filed and verified under oath. Under Oklahoma law, the court must now review it for legal sufficiency. If approved, the petitioner has 45 days to collect signatures from the requisite number of Rogers County registered voters. If those signatures are certified by the Election Board, a grand jury must be impaneled within 30 days.
The petitioner, Alexander Russell Miller, states he is prepared to be the first witness called before the grand jury.
📄 Source Documents
Grand Jury Petition (Full 74-page filing)
claremore.guerrilla.news/grand-jury-petition.pdf
Filed July 7, 2026 in Rogers County District Court, Case No. C-J-2026-2. Citizens' Petition for the Convening of a Grand Jury under Okla. Const. art. II, § 18.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational and journalistic purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The grand jury petition referenced herein is a public filing and does not constitute a finding of guilt or wrongdoing by any named party. All individuals and entities are presumed innocent unless and until proven otherwise in a court of law. Legal documents, statutes, and regulatory filings referenced or linked herein are provided for public transparency and reader reference. They should not be relied upon as a substitute for consultation with a qualified attorney. Guerrilla News is an independent journalism outlet and is not affiliated with any party, government agency, or legal proceeding discussed in this report.
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