County Commissioners at odds over action to rehire employee

Two Comanche County commissioners are at odds over plans to rehire a former employee who has a lawsuit pending against the county.

District 3 Commissioner Josh Powers read a statement at Monday’s Comanche County Commissioners meeting, criticizing District 1 Commissioner Ryan John over plans to rehire and designate Kenny Curry as chief deputy county commissioner for District 1. The position is the “second in command” for the eastern commissioner district, and was the position Curry held under former District 1 Commissioner Gail Turner and through the first six months of former Commissioner John O’Brien’s term, before O’Brien fired him in July 2023.

Curry, who filed a lawsuit over the firing in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma in late 2024, said he was terminated after he and other also-fired county employees cooperated in an investigation against O’Brien, while O’Brien said they were fired because they were “not a good fit for the office,” an investigator at the time said. O’Brien resigned his commissioner’s seat in June 2024 under a plea agreement that allowed him to plead no contest on two misdemeanor counts of embezzlement while in office.

John, who took office in January, was elected to the seat last year.

Commissioners have been dealing with Curry’s lawsuit for months, and District Attorney Kyle Cabelka said that lawsuit still is pending.

Powers, who also chairs the county commissioner board, said Monday in open session he was going to read from a prepared statement, rebuffing a motion by Central District Commissioner Johnny Owens and seconded by John that the issue be tabled so it could be taken into executive session. That couldn’t have been done Monday because there was no executive session listed on the meeting agenda.

Powers said in open session he believes John gave privileged information to Curry, information discussed with Cabelka (who is the commissioners’ attorney) while the group was in executive session. In particular, he referenced information about the amount of settlement being considered to end the lawsuit.

Powers said in open session he believes county taxpayers should know the details of what was going on, to include privileged discussions from executive session being made public to the party involved, and the fact that John had rehired Curry. A sworn statement designating Curry as the chief deputy county commissioner for District 1 was to have been discussed Monday, but John tabled the action “until further notice.”

Powers said in open session John rehired Curry despite instructions from Cabelka telling him not to do so while the lawsuit was pending and to avoid all contact with Curry because he had retained counsel and “was actively suing the county.” John said he had asked his attorney before taking the action, and was confident he could do so. But, Powers said that attorney was not Cabelka, who had already told the board in executive session what steps commissioners should take. Powers said his bigger problem is that John divulged confidential information to a third party.

“That is a flat-out lie,” John said.

Powers also said in open session John attempted to circumvent the Oklahoma Open Meetings Act by communicating “with a third party in an attempt to explain his reckless actions to me,” warning John he should be careful about what he says because Powers could prove his statements. Powers also said he believed that the shared confidential communications occurred “in what I would call a collusion to extort the maximum amount of money from our tax payers and this county.”

Powers said in open session the financial figure Curry was offered — neither man said what that figure was — “just happened to be the maximum amount that had only been discussed in executive session.”

John, noting the pending lawsuit, said he could not respond in open session, saying that would have to be done in executive session.

Powers said in open session he fears the actions taken by John have left county officials open to personal liability, and also said they are detrimental and set a precedent. He said he also wanted the public made aware of the situation.

“You’re now on my radar,” he said.