Del City Leaders Say Petition Signatures Are Enough For Grand Jury Investigation

Del City leaders say they have collected enough signatures to impanel a grand jury to investigate Oklahoma County Commissioner Myles Davidson.

The signatures turned in Monday to Oklahoma County Court Clerk Rick Warren will be sent Tuesday to the State Election Board to verify the signatures are valid and from registered voters within Oklahoma County.

Del City Mayor Floyd Eason said 5,000 signatures is the maximum required to impanel a grand jury. Eason and Mid-Del School Board member Gina Standridge said they turned in approximately 5,700.

“5,000 doesn’t sound like a big number until you actually have to ask 5,000 people for their autograph,” Eason said. “Then it becomes a very big number.”

The petition approved for circulation by a district judge on June 8, launches allegations of corruption in office and willful maladministration against Davidson over his role in selecting a site for a new Oklahoma County Jail.

“We’ve asked questions that aren’t being answered and we want the grand jury to find out the reason why,” Eason said.

“Indecision and frivolous lawsuits are not the answer to the issues we are facing,” Davidson said in a statement to News 9. “We continue wasting time and money with their distractions. It is my hope they will eventually see the errors of their actions and start to provide productive solutions.”

“Most grand juries are for indictments, deciding whether or not somebody’s going to be charged with a crime,” Criminal Defense Attorney and Legal Expert Ed Blau said. “In this particular case, the grand jury could either recommend indictments or recommend a public official be removed from office.”

Blau said if the signatures are verified, it would be up to a judge to select either someone from the attorney general’s office or a special council or lead the grand jury investigation.

“If a grand jury determines there was either malfeasance or corruption in office, they can recommend removal,” Balu said. “It takes nine out of the 12 grand jurors to make this recommendation.”

State election officials have seven days to verify the signature count.