Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025 • Cloudy, windy and upper-50s. ☁️

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In today’s Memo:

• State government reset (again): Gov. Kevin Stitt has appointed Tax Commissioner Mark Wood as the new director of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services — the third person to lead the agency in as many months. OMES oversees core state functions like IT, purchasing, HR, and fleet management.

• Immigration enforcement surge: A new report finds that local jails and law enforcement agencies are now involved in about half of all ICE arrests in Oklahoma, highlighting how local–federal partnerships are driving a rise in deportation activity across the state.

And headlines from across the state in The Oklahoma Rundown.

By Nuria Martinez-Keel, Oklahoma Voice
Click here to support their newsroom.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Gov. Kevin Stitt has appointed a third leader of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services in as many months.

Stitt on Wednesday appointed Oklahoma Tax Commissioner Mark Wood to be the director of OMES, an agency that serves as the backbone of state government resources. Longtime Internal Revenue Service official Dan LaFortune will replace Wood at the state Tax Commission.

Oklahoma Chief Operating Officer David Ostrowe is no longer listed on the OMES website as one of the agency’s administrators, but he still holds his COO role in the governor’s Cabinet. Ostrowe was appointed to lead OMES on Sept. 26 when former state COO and OMES director Rick Rose resigned.

Ostrowe will continue as state COO, and Wood will report to him, OMES spokesperson Christa Helfrey said.

All state agencies, including OMES “roll into the state COO,” Ostrowe wrote in a message to Oklahoma Voice.

“Mark is an extremely capable leader with years of tax, finance and government process experience,” he wrote.

The governor’s appointment order issued Wednesday states Wood is stepping into Rose’s former director position, not replacing Ostrowe.

Click here to read the full story.

By Sierra Pfeifer, KOSU
Click here to support their newsroom.

In Oklahoma, local jails and other lock-ups are being used to facilitate about half of the state’s immigration arrests, a new report says.

The findings come from Prison Policy Initiative, a national nonprofit that studies mass incarceration in the United States.

Researchers found that agreements between ICE and local law enforcement have become an essential part of increased deportation efforts under the Trump administration. The collaborations allow state police, troopers and corrections officers to act as local arms of the national immigration enforcement agency, carrying out arrests at a growing rate.

In Oklahoma, that means arrests at local jails and lock-ups accounted for half of the 2,323 people arrested for immigration charges in the state between May 21 and October 15.

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:

• Mayor Monroe Nichols talks campaign promises, housing and 2026 goals (The Oklahoma Eagle)

• Oklahoma mental health department explores privatizing some behavioral care centers (Oklahoma Voice)

• State Department of Education to develop new social studies standards after court decision (Tulsa World)*

• Broken Arrow residents will vote on $415M bond in April. Here’s what it would fund. (Tulsa Flyer)

• Broken Arrow leaders to vote on rezoning for proposed mosque, retail development amid online debate (Fox 23)

• Oklahoma lawmakers push eviction reform (Oklahoma Watch)

• Another section of Oklahoma’s oldest turnpike preparing for speed increase (Oklahoma Voice)

• Oklahoma farmers and ranchers can earn thousands for soil conservation through state program (KGOU)

• Norman Public Schools: No presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement at schools (OU Daily)

• This program helps Spanish-speaking Tulsans get their food businesses off the ground (Tulsa Flyer)

• Westwin Elements elects to not move forward with large-scale Lawton facility (KSWO)

• Dan Kirby conviction vacated as court gives ‘unusual’ critique of jury instructions (NonDoc)

• Former Tulsa pastor indicted, accused of sexually assaulting two girls in 1984 (Tulsa World)*

• OKC to place lien on abandoned ranch near Chisholm Creek (The Oklahoman)*

• Oklahoma City Fire Department uses unmanned drones for quicker emergency response (KOCO)

• Some small businesses report 40% sales drop during crucial holiday season (2 News Oklahoma)

• Muskogee city councilor cleared to run for re-election (2 News Oklahoma)

• Love County wildfire sparks safety warnings (KXII)

• Ponca City mayor calls for master plan update for the Marland Mansion (Kay News Cow)

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