Oklahoma Treasurer's Rural Office Looks More Like a Gas-and-Go Pit Stop

When Oklahoma Treasurer Todd Russ opened an unclaimed property office in Clinton last June, he framed it as a mission to serve rural Oklahomans. But according to GPS data uncovered by Oklahoma Watch, the real commute story is something else entirely.

The numbers tell a striking picture: more than 960 trips in a state-owned 2024 Ford Expedition over the past year, with over 100 of those at speeds exceeding 90 miles per hour. Fuel card records show more than $3,700 spent mostly at gas stations along Interstate 40 between Clinton and Oklahoma City. The vehicle itself—unmarked except for a small windshield decal—has logged more than 26,000 miles. On the surface, Russ has claimed the Clinton office and a second satellite location opened later in Muskogee are designed to make state services accessible to rural communities. But the pattern suggests something closer to a commuting hub for the treasurer and his staff to shuttle back and forth to the Capitol.

Here’s where it gets legally messy: state law requires authorization from the Office of Management and Enterprise Services for elected officials and employees to use state vehicles for commuting. According to open records responses from September and verified again on May 27, Russ’office does not have that authorization. When asked for specifics about the vehicle use, his office—via spokeswoman Lara Blubaugh—offered only a generic statement about supporting four offices around the state as part of constitutional duties. No detailed answers about the trips, the speeds, or the authorization gap.

The contrast with other statewide elected officials is notable. State Superintendent Lindel Fields, who lives in Tulsa, occasionally uses a state car only when multiple people are carpooling to save money on official business—but mostly drives his personal vehicle. State Auditor Cindy Byrd, who lives in Coalgate and faces a longer commute, was told when she took office in 2019 that state statute didn’t allow state vehicle commuting, and she’s never used one. Byrd is actually running against Russ in the June 16 GOP primary for treasurer, making this timing politically loaded.

The Clinton office is 85 miles from Oklahoma City. Russ lives in Cordell, about 15 miles south of Clinton. So technically, the office is closer to his home than to the Capitol—raising the question of why it needed so much back-and-forth traffic. The treasurer’s office pays $1,300 monthly for the Clinton space and $600 for Muskogee, plus spending more than $27,000 on office furniture and nearly $4,000 on renovations. Yet the office won’t say how many actual visits or calls the part-time staff fielded since opening. No metrics. No transparency.

This story matters because it touches on a fundamental question about public service: Are state resources being used to serve the public, or to serve the public servant? The unclaimed property program Russ administers holds $1.4 billion that belongs to Oklahomans. The integrity of how that office operates—and how the state’s money is spent—matters. A rural outreach office is a legitimate idea. But if it’s functioning mainly as a rest stop on a daily commute, taxpayers deserve to know that’s what they’re paying for.