Pottawatomie, Lincoln County District Attorney submits letter of resignation

POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY, Okla. (KFOR) – Allan Grubb, the District Attorney for District 23, serving Pottawatomie and Lincoln counties, submitted his letter of resignation Friday afternoon.

Grubb submitted his resignation letter to Gov. Kevin Stitt, saying his resignation as the DA is effective Sept. 30, 2022.

"I will also be voluntarily suspending myself from office immediately so that a new interim District Attorney may be appointed after the death of the District Attorney-elect," Grubb said in the resignation letter, which is shared in its entirety below.

Grubb said he decided to resign after discussions with his family.

"It is with a heavy heart that I submit this resignation," he said. "With a short amount of time left in office, I need to focus on some health concerns that have arisen with family members, as well as myself. I would also like to use this time to transition for my return to private practice."

Grubb's attorney, Robert Gifford, issued the following statement:

“The decision by Mr. Grubb was made to end any controversy or distraction of the mission of the District Attorney’s Office. He promised to be a District Attorney for the people, and this decision is in the interests of all.”

Robert Gifford, Attorney

Grubb was previously set to leave office at the end of the year after losing a re-election bid in June.

He was under fire for allegations of misconduct of his office’s finances; a group of district attorneys asked the State Auditor and Inspector to investigate his office’s finances, including the district attorney’s dealings with Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs), which allow prosecutors to strike up a monetary deal with offenders in return for no charges or jail time.

A memo stated that a multi-county grand jury accused Grubb of neglect of duty, oppression of office and corruption throughout his tenure. The grand jury requested his immediate suspension, pending the trial for the accusation for removal.

Gifford said in late July the allegations against Grubb were not true, and that the grand jury memo was leaked.

The Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office disputed the claim that the memo was leaked,

“I wanted to make sure you all had the facts. Consistent with the statutes, the accusation for removal must be read in open court in the presence of the jurors, which it was yesterday. Once that happens, the document and information is public,” said Rachel Roberts, Director of Communications for the Office of the Oklahoma Attorney General.