A special primary election to fill the seat of resigning Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz will be held March 1, the state’s presidential primary, with a special general election April 5, the governor’s office announced today.
The filing period for the election will be Dec. 7-8 and if a primary is not necessary, the special general election will be held March 1, according to the notice sent to county officials from Gov. Mary Fallin’s office.
“That’s the date we were hoping for,” said Patty Bryant, Tulsa County Election Board secretary.
Because the March date falls on the state’s presidential primary and the April date will include school board and local government elections, the county will not have to pay the entire cost. Bryant estimated the cost for a countywide election would be well over $100,000.
She said the Election Board asked the governor’s office to consider dates with other elections in order to share costs.
Glanz, who submitted his letter of resignation to Fallin’s office Thursday night, was charged Wednesday with two misdemeanors following a 9-week grand jury investigation into his office.
In the letter, Glanz says that his final day will be Nov. 1, though Undersheriff Rick Weigel has already assumed the duties of sheriff. Weigel said at a media conference Thursday that he began acting as sheriff Thursday morning, as Glanz was appearing in court on the misdemeanor charges.
The grand jury charged Glanz with “refusal to perform official duty” for instructing subordinates not to release or discuss documents. The record was an internal affairs report that concluded supervisors were pressured to sign off on reserve deputy Robert Bates’ training.
Bates shot and killed an unarmed man, Eric Harris, April 2 during a botched gun sting and faces a second-degree murder charge.
Glanz was also charged with “willful violation of the law” for taking a $600 a month stipend for his personal vehicle, while routinely using a county vehicle for transportation.
The grand jury recommended that Glanz be suspended from office immediately, in order to protect the members of the sheriff’s office who testified. In a document the grand jury released calling for Glanz to leave office, they mentioned numerous instances of alleged threats or intimidation by Glanz.
This will be Tulsa County’s fourth special election scheduled since in January, when then-State Sen. Jabar Shumate, D-Tulsa, resigned, Bryant said. He was replaced by Kevin Matthews, a democratic state representative from Tulsa.
An upcoming special election to replace Sen. Rick Brinkley, who pleaded guilty to fraud charges in August, will take place Jan. 12, following a primary in November.
