LAWTON — The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation has not yet concluded its investigation of Comanche County Commissioner John O’Brien, District Attorney Kyle Cabelka said during the commission’s July 31 meeting.
“The investigation is still pending with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation,” he said.
Cabelka’s comments came as the commission considered a resolution directing the county treasurer to deposit a $1,093.07 check from O’Brien into the county highway unrestricted fund. If the check had been accepted, it would not have been considered a complete payment for any alleged misuse of county-owned property, according to the agenda.
Cabelka said he had consulted the state Auditor and Inspector’s office about whether the county could accept the check.
“From their standpoint, they don’t have a problem with the acceptance of the check,” he said. “And there would not be an issue in the future, from what they’ve told me, if the county were to accept a check on any future audit or anything like that. So ultimately, it’s up to you all to decide if you want to do it.”
Cabelka said the commission had three options:
• Decide not to accept the check.
• Accept the check via resolution and have the money deposited into the highway fund.
• Accept the check without the resolution, in which case the money would be deposited into the county’s general fund.
Commission Chairman Johnny Owens said he had some questions about the investigation, but he did not think the meeting was the proper place to raise those questions.
“I’d rather table it and bring it back to the next meeting to discuss a little bit more,” he said.
The commission ultimately voted to postpone action until the Aug. 7 meeting.
The investigation
The OSBI launched an investigation of O’Brien, who represents District 1 on the commission, in mid-July. The agency’s public information manager, Hunter McKee, confirmed the investigation in an email to Southwest Ledger but did not comment on specific allegations.
McKee said Aug. 3 that the investigation was continuing, and no further information was available.
Cabelka said July 13 that he had asked the OSBI to open an investigation of O’Brien about three weeks prior. However, the DA said he could not give specific details of the allegations against the commissioner.
O’Brien said Aug. 1 that he could not comment on the investigation because a final report had yet to be submitted.