Gov. Stitt, cabinet members file lawsuit for clarity on AG's opinion

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - On Thursday, Governor Kevin Stitt along with Secretary of Agriculture Blayne Arthur; Secretary of Human Services Deb Shropshire; and Secretary of Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage Shelley Zumwalt, filed a lawsuit against Attorney General Gentner Drummond over his recent opinion on dual office-holding.

That opinion resulted in the resignation of Tim Gatz from his role as Secretary of Transportation and as Executive Director of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority. Gatz, actually served three roles, he retained his title of Executive Director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.

“Since I took office, I’ve worked to find ways to run government efficiently and save the taxpayers money. I have the best people in Oklahoma running my state agencies, and it only makes sense to have them be my advisers,” said Gov. Stitt. “The most recent AG Opinion concerning Tim Gatz is flat wrong, and in order to continue working to make Oklahoma a top 10 state, a court will need to fix the mess the Opinion created.”

The lawsuit was filed in the District Court of Oklahoma County.

The initial filing can be found here.

The Office of the Attorney General released the following statement in response to a lawsuit filed against Attorney General Gentner Drummond by Gov. Kevin Stitt and three of his Cabinet secretaries.

“The Attorney General stands behind his legally binding opinion and welcomes the opportunity to respond to the lawsuit in a future filing.”