Candidates to remain on ballot for Comanche County sheriff

Two Republican candidates will remain on the ballot for Comanche County sheriff after a ruling Tuesday by the Comanche County Election Board.

The three board members ruled unanimously that names of Michael Merritt and Dell Galloway would be retained on the ballot, meaning Republican voters will have three choices when selecting their nominee for Comanche County sheriff in June’s primary election: Merritt, Galloway and Andy Moon. Moon had contested the candidacy of both men, saying neither met the requirement for serving as a duly-certified peace officer for four years. He also alleged Galloway didn’t meet the residency requirement.

After Tuesday’s two-hour hearing, Moon said he was satisfied with the results because his intention was to clarify the intent of state statutes that set requirements for those running for sheriff.

Evan Watson, the attorney representing Moon, said during the hearing that while state statute seems ambiguous about the peace officer requirement (a point he argued earlier against Merritt), he and Moon also say Galloway doesn’t meet the requirement for living in Oklahoma for two years. Watson said Galloway moved out of state in 2021 and just returned last year, which is short of the two-year requirement. He said Moon’s position is that those two years must have occurred prior to filing for election, and they can prove Galloway sold his house here in 2021 and moved to Arkansas, where he purchased property in August 2021.

Watson said that for the election board to ignore that specification in state code would open a “Pandora’s Box,” in terms of allowing anyone who has lived in Oklahoma at any time — even as a child — to meet the residency requirement and run for office.

Galloway, who represented himself, said he moved to Arkansas in 2021 after the death of his wife of 31 years. He remarried and started a new life, but said he returned to Comanche County in August 2023 at the urging of residents who wanted him to run for sheriff. He said he talked to multiple people about his plan to ensure he met residency requirements. He was assured he did because he had lived in Oklahoma for 19 years and two months after retiring from the U.S. Army at Fort Sill.

“I sought legal counsel on this before I filed,” Galloway said, adding he didn’t want to face a challenge of his residency.

Election board member Don Nelson said Galloway meets the residency requirement, explaining the requirement states a “resident of the State of Oklahoma for two years COMMA” (emphasis by Nelson), meaning statute doesn’t specify those two years must occur just prior to filing.

Brent Parmer, assistant district attorney, said his research didn’t reveal any case law for the board to consider. Declining to give his own opinion, Parmer said that power rests with the election board.

“You are the Supreme Court on this,” he said.

After the meeting, County Election Board Secretary Amy Sims (the third member of the board), said the board’s ruling is final and binding.

She said the same of the unanimous decision on Merritt, who was found to have met the requirement for the minimum number of years of service in law enforcement a qualified sheriff’s candidate must have.

In extensive arguments, Watson and Michael Fields (who represented Merritt) focused on Merritt’s length of service in law enforcement. Board members noted there was no disagreement about exactly when Merritt worked in county law enforcement: from July 1, 2013, to November 30, 2014, and from Sept. 8, 2021, to April 3, 2024. What differed is how those days of service were calculated.

Watson said state law specifies a total of four years, which he and Moon calculated to be four (years) times 365 (days per year), which total 1,460 days. Merritt’s time totals 1,455 days.

“He was short five days to qualify for four years,” Watson said. “My interpretation of the law is 48 months or more. Looking at the actual payroll stubs, he is short of that.”

Merritt and Fields said they based their total count on what CLEET defines as a work week for full-time law enforcement, which is 25 hours per week. Under that calculation, Merritt meets the requirement, Fields said.

“He did that (work 25 hours a week) in 48 months, as reflected in all time sheets,” he said, adding Merritt’s time meets CLEET definitions.

Merritt served as Comanche County Emergency Management director from Dec. 1, 2014, to Sept. 7, 2021. Watson contended that the time Merritt served in that position did not count toward his time as a law enforcement officer.

Merritt filed for office April 3 and is still employed by the Comanche County Sheriff’s Office. Watson and Moon contended Merritt had not been a peace officer for the required length of time before he filed for office.

The statute says the candidate for sheriff must be a peace officer for four years, it does not have to be consecutive service, Fields said.