Tulsa County Sheriff Has 'No Regrets' After Announcing Resignation

The Tulsa County sheriff decided to resign after the grand jury indicted him on two misdemeanor charges Wednesday afternoon.

The sheriff expects to be out of office before his court date on those charges in November.

Read Glanz's Resignation Letter

He said the undersheriff will run the day to day operations of the sheriff's office.

The Tulsa County district attorney said he's asked the attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor to pursue the charges against Sheriff Stanley Glanz.

The first charge is willful violation of the law. The indictment alleges Glanz committed willful violation of the law from January 2014 to the present for electing "to take a $600 monthly stipend for in-county travel for official business, electing to use his own personal vehicle for said travel... and has instead regularly used a Tulsa County owned and fueled 2013 and 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe for travel within the county for regularly scheduled official business."

9/30/2015 Related Story: Tulsa County Sheriff Resigns After Indictments Handed Down

The second charge is refusal to perform his official duty. The grand jury said the sheriff denied lawful requests to release the 2009 internal affairs report concerning reserve deputy Bob Bates.

Glanz was driving back from Colorado when the findings came in but spoke exclusively to News On 6 about the grand jury's decisions.

Lori: "What's your reaction to what the grand jury did, sheriff?"
Glanz: "I'm not too pleased with it. They looked at all the facts, made their decision and I've been in government most of my life and I will abide by their wishes."

The six women and six men who made up the grand jury listened to 32 witnesses and looked at 164 pieces of evidence during their investigation into the sheriff's office, after the death of Eric Harris by reserve deputy Bob Bates in April, when Bates says he accidentally pulled his gun instead of his Taser.

Special Coverage: TCSO Reserve Deputy Shooting Controversy

The grand jury made eight recommendations for better training and record keeping, but the biggest was charging the sheriff with two misdemeanors and recommending he resign, which he did.

Read the report and recommendations

Lori: "Talk to me about your decision to resign?
Glanz: "I told the grand jury when I went in and spoke with them, if that's what they wanted me to do, I would do that."

The sheriff said he believes this was a perfect storm of circumstances that came together at a time in this country when law enforcement is under attack. He said he has stayed in office this long because he was trying to look out for his employees.

Lori: "Do you have any regrets?"
Glanz: "No, I don't regret standing up for my officers at all. Not one bit."

The sheriff said he hopes he is remembered for his 27 years of service to the community rather than the last six months on the job.

He said it's too early to know yet if he will take one of the many job offers he's had or if he'll just retire.

Lori: "Is there anyone you blame for all this?"
Glanz: "No, I don't blame anyone."

The sheriff said he will face the charges like any other citizen.

His attorney said he plans to plead not guilty to the charges at the first court date on November 10th.

The governor will call a special election to fill the sheriff's term until the actual election set for November of next year.