Oklahoma Watch

Oklahoma’s Donahue Behavioral Health Center faces a $125 million funding shortfall due to underestimated costs, inflation and design changes. Delays may push its opening to 2028.

The Education Department canceled its deal to buy 55,000 King James Version Bibles for schools, but an agency spokesman said they will issue a new request.

The law is on hold, multiple exemptions have been taken and lawmakers failed to make changes in the latest legislative session. But Oklahoma’s Republican lawmakers and elected officials remain bullish about the state’s anti-ESG law targeting banks perceived as hostile to the oil and gas industry

The size of the scandal alleged at the state’s largest online school befits the school’s name: epic.

Stillwater Public Schools settled a lawsuit over teacher Alberto Morejon, who was convicted for sexting a student, but would not disclose details of the agreement.

The Oklahoma State Election Board on Friday appointed two new Republican members to the Oklahoma County Election Board, just days after removing two GOP members in that county for failing to certify recent elections and spreading misinformation about the election process.

The administrative rules change, which must receive final approval from the Legislature to take effect, requires prisoners to serve the lesser of five years in prison or one-third of their sentence to become eligible for commutation.

The state Election Board dismissed the Republican member and a Republican alternate from the Oklahoma County Election Board after it determined they failed to certify election results, refused to approve meeting minutes and didn’t disclose conflicts of interest.

Oklahoma’s prison population rose 2.3% from late 2021 to 2022, a notable shift after years of steady decline.

As children return to school, Oklahoma now has the highest rate of exemptions from immunizations for kindergartners in the region, according to state and federal data.