John to be sworn in as Comanche County District 1 county commissioner on Tuesday

New District 1 County Commissioner Ryan John will be sworn into office Tuesday during a special ceremony at the Comanche County Courthouse.

The ceremony is set for 8:15 a.m. in the Jury Room of the courthouse’s second floor, with District Judge Grant Sheperd conducting the oath of office. The ceremony is scheduled just before the commissioners’ weekly meeting, which will begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday because Monday is a federal holiday.

John was the winner in the Tuesday special election called by Gov. Kevin Stitt to let eastern Comanche County residents select a replacement for former District 1 Commissioner John O’Brien. O’Brien was suspended from office and resigned his seat in early June, and Stitt selected Trent Logan to fill that post on a temporary basis until voters chose their replacement in a special election.

That election drew five candidates, including John and Logan, who also ran against Kevin Turpin, Hank Hasenbeck, Craig Tracht and Chad Maguire. John won 44.02 percent of the vote to take the job, meaning he will complete O’Brien’s unexpired term. That four-year term began in January 2023.

John said Tuesday he is the fourth generation of his family to be born and reared in Comanche County.

“I wanted to step up and make a difference,” he said, adding his goals as commissioner are economic growth, solving problems with the county jail, and maintain a hands-on approach to the county barn and county roads.

John served in the U.S. Army for four years and holds a bachelor’s degree in business finance from Cameron University.

O’Brien was suspended from his commissioner seat in early May by the Oklahoma Attorney General’s multi-county grand jury, which recommended he be removed from office for oppression, corruption and willful maladministration of office. He also was charged in Comanche County District Court in March with two felony counts of embezzlement by a county official, and misdemeanor charges of computer crime and two counts of outraging public decency. O’Brien resigned from office in June, after pleading no contest to two misdemeanor charges of embezzlement while in office. The plea included the stipulation he resign as commissioner.