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In today’s Memo:

• Open records complaints spike after new AG portal launches: Oklahoma’s attorney general has received more than 220 open records complaints this year, with filings jumping after a new enforcement and complaint system went live under a 2025 law empowering Gentner Drummond’s office to act on violations.

• Oklahoma Memo is growing fast — here’s what it is (and isn’t): As the newsletter surges past 1,000 subscribers, a quick reset on the mission: a daily, human-curated briefing designed to save you time and amplify the best reporting across Oklahoma.

By Emma Murphy, Oklahoma Voice
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OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office has received over 220 complaints of open records violations this year, with the numbers increasing since a public complaint form launched, officials said. 

Anthony Sykes, the assistant attorney general in the Public Access Counselor unit, said between January and July, 128 complaints were received, or about 18 per month. After the complaint form launched in August after House Bill 2163 became law in May, that number has grown to be about 25 per month.

The law gave the Attorney General’s Office the power to enforce violations of the Open Records Act and outlined a review process for denied public records requests through a complaint form monitored by the Public Access Counselor Unit. The agency can seek “legal enforcement” when government entities fail to comply with open records laws.

Filing a complaint for review is prohibited if the person requesting to inspect a public record is doing so for “commercial purposes.” 

About 42% of the complaints to the form were against a state agency, state records show. A third pertained to a city while nearly a quarter of complaints were about a county. Records show 2% of complaints were about a school board.

Click here to read the full story.

By Ryan Welton, Oklahoma Memo
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A funny but awesome thing happened this week: Oklahoma Memo has a bunch of new subscribers.

After nearly a year to reach 1,000 subscribers, the daily Oklahoma Memo newsletter surged past 1,050 in just a few days — and counting. With a wave of new readers joining (thank you!), this felt like the right moment to reintroduce what Oklahoma Memo is, and just as importantly, what it is not.

Oklahoma Memo is a daily, human-curated news product — a Monday-through-Saturday email delivered at 7 a.m. It highlights the most important and impactful reporting from across Oklahoma, reviewed and selected by hand. Every story is read before it’s included. Paywalls are clearly marked.

This is not a spot-news or police-blotter newsletter. While serious crimes may appear when they matter, the focus is broader: government, business, education, energy, agriculture, communities, and accountability — the news that actually affects daily life in Oklahoma.

The role here is not reporter, but amplifier, explainer, and connector. Oklahoma Memo exists to save readers time — five to ten minutes, max — while keeping them better informed than most people in the room.

The growth suggests something is resonating: transparency over snark, curation over chaos, and respect for the reporting being done across the state.

You can subscribe for free at OklahomaMemo.com/subscribe.

Message me anytime at [email protected].

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:

• Capture of Nicolás Maduro: What it could mean for Oklahoma (News 9)

• Tulsa Venezuelans React to Military Operation, Capture of President Maduro (News On 6)

• PSO says needed investments may hike customer bills 15% (Tulsa World)*

• Tulsa Assistant Fire Marshal Stephen Mixon dies while on duty (News On 6)

• Childcare providers voice their concerns over new proposed emergency rules and regulations (KFOR)

• Enid baby on life support with flu and COVID, family organizing blood drives (News 9)

• Dickson Schools mourns two high school students killed in crash (KOCO)

• Mustang mourns high school senior who died in motorcycle crash days after becoming a father (News 9)

• Oklahoma grandma killed by stray bullet on Christmas 'took in everybody' (The Oklahoman)*

• Suspect in Bryan County shooting found, arrested following OSBI search (KXII)

• Tulsa-area business news: Here's what's coming in 2026 (Tulsa World)*

• New bilingual speech therapy practice opens in Tulsa (2 News Oklahoma)

• Oklahoma cracks down on organized retail theft with new law targeting crime rings (2 News Oklahoma)

• Tulsa photographer Taylor Mae Villarreal to show off her ‘Faces’ at Carson House (Tulsa Flyer)

• Choctaw Nation's Stickball Exhibition connects past and present (KTEN)

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The ‘Oklahoma Memo’ mission is simple: Reignite the daily local news habit by connecting Oklahomans and those who love Oklahoma to quality sources of news and vetted information.

✅ Save you time.
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Message me anytime at [email protected].