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When attorney Ron Durban expected five people to show up for his Thursday lunch meeting about Ottawa County's problems, he got three times that number. What unfolded over two hours was a raw accounting of systemic failures that have left citizens facing a $33 million judgment while officials remain unaccountable for deaths, abuse, and corruption in the county jail.
Durban, who has been investigating accountability issues across Oklahoma, didn't mince words about what he's found in Ottawa County. "I am tired of seeing the abuse that I see from the Panhandle to the southeast McCarton County of the state of Oklahoma," he told the packed community center. "But here there's some change that can be effectuated."
The $33 Million Problem Taxpayers Must Pay
The most immediate crisis facing Ottawa County residents is a $33 million federal judgment currently under review by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. Unlike Wagner County, which just settled a similar case for $12 million and is asking voters how they want to pay for it, Ottawa County has no plan.
"You have that $33 million judgment sitting in the 10th circuit staring y'all in the face and I can assure you that there is no plan for how to pay for it," Durban explained. When the appeals court makes its decision, county commissioners will have only two options: property taxes or sales taxes.
But that's just the beginning. Durban's inbox contains hundreds of messages about ongoing problems that could spawn additional lawsuits, including the recent case of Leah Senko and other incidents of alleged systematic abuse in the county jail.
Sheriff Dean Steps Up While Others Run
In a surprising development, Sheriff Jeremy Dean reached out to Durban directly, despite advisors telling him the attorney was "scary and like the big bad wolf." Their two-hour conversation revealed both progress and persistent problems at the jail.
Dean has implemented some reforms: replacing pipes in female cells, installing body scanners for contraband detection, and contracting with Key Health for medical services. However, he acknowledges that drugs and cell phones remain "a major, major problem" in the facility.
Most significantly, Dean committed to participating in a public forum where citizens can ask questions directly. "That's a big step," Durban noted, contrasting it with other officials who "ran from me the other day."
The Grand Jury Strategy That Others Failed
Durban outlined an ambitious plan to convene a citizen grand jury to investigate what he calls "systemic abuse" by various county officials. Unlike recent failed attempts in other Oklahoma counties, his approach emphasizes detailed pre-planning.
The math is daunting: approximately 5,000 verified signatures from registered voters must be collected within 90 days once the petition is filed. Previous efforts in Tulsa County fell short by thousands of signatures due to poor planning and late organization.
"The failures that have happened for the other petitions is by not having all this stuff figured out beforehand," Durban explained. His plan requires extensive volunteer coordination, business partnerships for petition hosting, and an estimated $5,000 in costs for printing, filing, and service fees.
Jail Conditions and the $14 Hour Problem
The root of many problems traces back to staffing issues at the county jail. Jailers earn just $14 an hour, a wage that participants noted was less than road construction workers or restaurant employees make locally.
"Nobody in their right mind wants to go deal with inmates who are not happy to be there, are a lot of times addicted to drugs, have mental health issues," Durban said. The result is constant turnover and inadequate supervision.
One participant revealed that Michael Victor lay dead in his cell for four hours in November 2021 while jailers falsified walkthrough logs, claiming they had checked on him when they hadn't. "Even if he would have escaped, he would have been gone for 4 hours on the streets," the participant noted.
The Path Forward Remains Uncertain
Despite the energy in the room, Durban emphasized that he cannot lead the effort alone. "I am one guy trying to... I'm going broke fast and I'm happy to do it but at the end of the day I can't come out here as much as y'all are here."
The meeting revealed multiple fronts requiring attention: legislative advocacy for bail reform and mental health funding, confronting hospital practices that enable police abuse, and addressing local issues from school discipline policies to retail theft enforcement.
Durban plans another meeting in two weeks to finalize whether the community will move forward with the grand jury petition. The question hanging over Ottawa County is whether enough citizens will commit to the intensive 90-day signature collection effort required to force accountability.
The full two-hour meeting contains extensive details about specific officials, legislative strategies, and citizen testimonies that reveal the scope of problems facing Ottawa County residents.
