Friday, Dec. 19, 2025 • Sunny and mid-to-upper 50s. ☀️

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In today’s Memo:

• State Farm faces new ORICO charges in Oklahoma after AG Gentner Drummond filed a petition alleging racketeering, reviving scrutiny tied to a 2018 Illinois settlement that avoided a potentially massive judgment.

• Oklahoma must stop ticketing tribal citizens on reservations, AG says, ruling that tribal wildlife management plans supersede state authority while ongoing hunting-rights lawsuits proceed.

• OU vs. Alabama, 7 p.m., in the College Football Playoff. TV = ABC, ESPN.

By J.C. Hallman, Oklahoma Watch
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On Dec. 4, Attorney General Gentner Drummond filed a petition accusing State Farm of violating ORICO, Oklahoma’s version of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (1970), the so-called RICO laws that were passed to dismantle La Cosa Nostra, the Italian mafia.

State Farm has been accused of racketeering before; the first time reads like something from The Godfather saga.

The story begins in 1997, when State Farm was caught violating its own auto insurance policies by substituting aftermarket parts for bodywork. A 48-state class action lawsuit filed in Illinois resulted in a jury award of $1.1 billion. State Farm appealed.

In 2004, a circuit court judge from a small, rural county southeast of St. Louis, Lloyd Karmeier, mounted a long-shot campaign to win a seat on the Illinois Supreme Court. The race became the most expensive judicial election in history, with $9.3 million raised between the two candidates. Karmeier prevailed and quickly provided the deciding vote in a decision that overturned the billion-dollar settlement against State Farm.

In 2009, a U.S. Supreme Court case in West Virginia triggered a new investigation in Illinois — a retired FBI agent and a private investigator teamed up to prove that Karmeier had received as much as $4 million in campaign donations from State Farm.  

In 2012, State Farm was accused of violating RICO laws over the judge scandal, with billions of dollars in damages being sought.

In 2018, just before the case went to trial, State Farm settled for $250 million, saving the company from billions in potential losses and skirting a trial that could have permanently branded it a criminal enterprise.

Now, what happened in Illinois may be repeating in Oklahoma.

Click here to read the full story.

By Graycen Wheeler, KOSU
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Attorney General Gentner Drummond says tribal wildlife plans in Oklahoma supersede the state’s on their reservations.

Drummond issued a binding formal opinion Thursday, saying the state’s wildlife code does not usurp tribes’ sovereignty over wildlife management on their reservations.

For months, tribal leaders have been butting heads with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation over the hunting rights of tribal members on reservation land. The Cherokee, Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations sued the department’s director and a special prosecutor last month over the ticketing of several tribal members for hunting on tribal land without a state license this fall.

Drummond wrote that he normally wouldn’t issue an opinion on something with pending litigation, but he felt this issue warranted immediate clarification.

“Hunting season is currently underway,” Drummond wrote. “Tribal citizens should not be deprived of their long-held rights while litigation proceeds and Oklahoma and wildlife departments need clear guidance on these issues as a matter of law.”

Click here to read the full story.

Editor’s note: Links requiring subscriptions have an *.

Editor’s note: Links requiring subscriptions have an *.

A hand-curated list of the best journalism from across the state:

• Memorial site grows for Deer Creek High School students killed in crash (KOCO)

• Reductions to Oklahoma child care subsidies to remain (Oklahoma Voice)

• Oklahoma lawmakers warn Trump’s AI order could threaten state authority (News On 6)

• ‘WIN time’: Data, early intervention drive rural school’s reading success (NonDoc)

• Frustrated by ‘serious issues,’ Ethics Commission could walk back Guardian 2.0, return to prior system (NonDoc)

• Judge’s decision sparks outrage in Noble neighbor dispute case (KFOR)

• Tulsa moves 55 people into housing as it clears two more homeless encampments (Tulsa Flyer)

• Southwestern Oklahoma State University president resigns (The Oklahoman)*

• Man pleads guilty to transporting children from Lawton for prostitution (KSWO)

• 5 ways to spend your weekend in Tulsa Dec. 19-21 (Tulsa Flyer)

• 'He's hard to kill': Brent Venables is the gladiator his OU football team embodies (Tulsa World)*

• Trespassing charges dismissed against Oklahoma pastor after defending wife from alleged assault (KFOR)

• Brian Bosworth selected as guest picker for ESPN's College GameDay at OU (KOCO)

• OU quarterback John Mateer 'without fear' going into Alabama rematch in College Football Playoff (OU Daily)

• OU student Addie Trout makes history as first Ruf/Nek Lil Sis with Down syndrome (Fox 25)

• Sean Brophy hired as Oklahoma State's offensive coordinator (The O’Colly)

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