GENERALLY SPEAKING / From the desk of Gentner Drummond
As the year comes to a close, it is fitting to reflect on what we were able to accomplish on behalf of our great state. From battling organized crime to standing against the Biden Administration’s federal overreach, I am immensely proud of how the dedicated men and women of the Attorney General’s Office are working to protect our rights and enforce the law.
Fighting Crime
My Organized Crime Task Force (OCTF), the first of its kind in the history of our state Attorney General’s Office, has made tremendous strides combating the proliferation of Oklahoma’s illegal marijuana grow operations. Over 2024, the OCTF has charged by indictment or information approximately 55 individuals with more than 200 counts of organized criminal activity such as human trafficking, committing fraud against the State, and unlawful manufacturing and distribution of illegal narcotics. That success is largely due to strong collaboration with our federal, tribal, state and local law enforcement partners.
The nation’s illegal immigration crisis has greatly exacerbated Oklahoma’s scourge of illegal marijuana farms. As I testified before a congressional subcommittee early this year, the porous border under the Biden White House has enabled Mexican drug cartels and Chinese crime syndicates to invade our state for nefarious activities ranging from human trafficking to the peddling of fentanyl and other deadly drugs. That is why I asked legislative leaders to pass House Bill 4156, which allows law enforcement to incarcerate illegal aliens. Although the Biden Administration has filed a lawsuit to prevent this commonsense approach, I am excited that soon we will have a strong partner in President Trump.
We enjoyed other successes in the 2024 legislative session. Oklahoma strengthened child pornography laws to account for images created through artificial intelligence. We extended the statute of limitations for rape from 12 to 20 years, lifting it entirely for instances where there is a confession or DNA evidence. In addition, lawmakers made fentanyl manufacturing a specific crime.
That law regarding fentanyl is only part of our effort to stamp out Oklahoma’s epidemic of opioid addiction. In 2020, the Office of the Attorney General was tasked with awarding grants for opioid abatement, but no funds had been distributed until I directed my staff to initiate the process. I am pleased to report that the Oklahoma Opioid Abatement Board this year distributed $12 million in settlement funds to more than 80 cities, counties and school districts to combat this health crisis. More grants will be awarded in 2025.
Fighting fraud in a multitude of arenas — from the marketplace to Medicaid and everything in between — is a key mission of the Attorney General’s Office. In 2024, our Consumer Protection Unit responded to more than 2,000 complaints, its investigations resulting in 20 criminal cases and more than $272,000 collected in restitution.
Public safety was also the catalyst for my launch this year of the 10 Most Wanted initiative website. As of this writing, law enforcement has apprehended six fugitives spotlighted on that list.
In Protection of Liberty
We Oklahomans are people of faith who rightly cherish our freedom to worship. My commitment to religious liberty is steadfast, which is why I have strongly opposed an effort that would force our tax dollars to fund so-called “religious charter schools” that would teach radical Islam or even Satanic doctrine. The Oklahoma Supreme Court sided with my argument that the would-be school violated both the Oklahoma and U.S. Constitutions, protecting our religious liberty and our tax dollars for now.
Thanks to the foresight of the state Legislature, the Office of the Attorney General is appropriated funds for the specific purpose of pushing back against the overwhelming federal overreach endemic to the Biden Administration. This past summer, we won an injunction blocking the U.S. Department of Education from enforcing a radical reimagining of Title IX that elevated general identity over express protections of female students. We are in litigation on many other fronts, too, particularly when it comes to an out-of-control Environmental Protection Agency bent on attacking Oklahoma’s oil and gas industry and harassing our farmer and ranchers.
Of course, all of that is about to change. No longer will the Biden Administration be in power to force its radical far-left agenda on our state or nation. Over the past four years, it has fought against our best interests at every turn. It has fought to maintain an open border and to keep its dangerous catch-and-release policies for illegal immigrants. It has fought against the sanctity of human life and our constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
All that ends the day President Trump is sworn in for his second term. Our cherished rights and freedoms here in Oklahoma will be far more secure under his leadership.
I am proud of all we have accomplished, but much more remains to be done. As I look to the promising year ahead, my fellow Oklahomans can be assured that I do not take lightly the responsibility I have been given. Two years into my four-year term, I remain more determined than ever to defend our rights, uphold the rule of law and serve the people of Oklahoma — not the political elite.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays!
