The Frontier and KOSU previously reported that judges in Oklahoma County routinely fail to consider whether defendants can afford bail, leaving poor and homeless people jailed on low-level charges. Other counties have already faced civil rights lawsuits.
Democrats flipped six Republican-held state House seats and made substantial gains in Oklahoma’s largest counties, even as Republicans maintained their grip on statewide offices.
Legislative seats flipped to Democrats, including some held by Republican House leaders. Republicans also held onto all statewide offices and five congressional districts, while the governor’s race shifted sharply toward Democrats compared with 2024.
Reporter Kayla Branch discusses the desperation that led some Oklahomans to seek addiction treatment in California, the allegations of insurance fraud surrounding some facilities and what she learned when she traveled there herself.
After years of homelessness and addiction, Ernesto Akothe was ready to start over. But more than $25,000 in fines and fees stood in his way until a judge waived the debt. Not every qualifying defendant gets the same opportunity.
The Republican nominee has loaned his campaign more than $12.8 million, accounting for the bulk of the $25.3 million in personal loans that have fueled this year’s gubernatorial race.
We reviewed claims about the state constitution and the candidates’ track records as a former state lawmaker and a former prosecutor compete to become Oklahoma’s next attorney general.
Staff at an Oklahoma regulatory agency spent over a year building a case against Citation Oil & Gas, a company notorious for oil field pollution. Instead of disciplining the company, agency leaders chose to let it resume operations.
Across Oklahoma, oilfield wastewater has continued to surface from the ground — even as regulators failed to contain it. This investigation examines how oversight fell short, how contamination spread and how families were left to navigate the consequences.
Chinese criminal networks have taken over much of the illicit marijuana market in Oklahoma, stoking a wave of crime that includes violence, money laundering and human trafficking. And authorities suspect some of those involved have links to powerful forces in the Chinese state.
There have been at least 25 police shootings in Oklahoma this year, at least 14 of which have been fatal.
Reporter Kayla Branch discusses the desperation that led some Oklahomans to seek addiction treatment in California, the allegations of insurance fraud surrounding some facilities and what she learned when she traveled there herself.
