Oklahoma Transportation Official Asks Judge To Dismiss Subpoena In Turnpike Transparency Lawsuit

An Oklahoma transportation official, an engineering company, a public relations company, and two staffers of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority all asked a judge to dismiss subpoenas for deposition in a lawsuit concerning government transparency.  

Engineering consultants Poe & Associates, Jones Public Relations, the OTA, and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation each argued for dismissing subpoenas against members of their staff.  

Judge Timothy Olsen heard arguments from each company and state agency in a virtual court hearing Friday. Attorneys expect Olsen to rule on the motions to dismiss next week.  

Last week attorneys representing the plaintiffs, a group of more than 240 Cleveland County residents who object to the OTA’s ACCESS Oklahoma plan, accused the agency of altering meeting agendas on its website to appear more transparent.  

Related: Attorneys Accuse OTA Of Altering ACCESS Oklahoma Documents 

Among those subpoenaed to answer questions was Jessica Brown, the director of strategic communications for the Oklahoma Transportation Cabinet. The cabinet’s agencies are the OTA, ODOT, and the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission.  

ODOT Attorney Jonathan Brewer argued the plaintiffs did not properly deliver the subpoena paperwork to Brown. “They served that subpoena by leaving it with a coworker of hers at ODOT. They never served Jessica Brown,” he said.  

Brewer then suggested Brown is not affiliated with the OTA plan to build new turnpikes in Cleveland County.  

“ODOT is a completely separate state agency from the OTA,” Brewer said. “ODOT’s jurisdiction is not turnpikes.”  

After this lawsuit was filed in May, Brown spoke to News 9 on behalf of the OTA. She said that the rollout of ACCESS Oklahoma was done in accordance with state transparency laws.  

“We have been very transparent, we believe, in how we have offered the information, the amount of information we've offered so early in a 15-year-long program,” Brown said on May 24.  

Related: Group of 150+ File Lawsuit Aiming To Stop Oklahoma Turnpike Construction Alleging Transparency Violations 

Richard Labarthe, an attorney for the plaintiffs argued later in the hearing that Brown played an integral role in the rollout of ACCESS Oklahoma. He called the claim that she is not involved with OTA, “nonsense.”  

Brown “is at the heart of all this stuff. She is the daggum director of strategic communications,” Labarthe said.