The Oklahoma Supreme Court has refused 8-0 to block Corporation Commissioner Todd Hiett from voting on rate hikes because of misconduct accusations.
Justices on Monday rejected a disqualification request by three Republican legislators.
“The Ethics Commission, not this Court, is the more appropriate forum for this disqualification request,” Justice Dana Kuehn wrote in a concurring opinion. “The alleged conduct is covered by Ethics Rules.”
Rep. Tom Gann, of Inola; Rep. Kevin West, of Moore; and Rep. Rick West, of Heavener, asked the Supreme Court to ban Hiett from voting on cases involving companies with direct knowledge of his “alleged criminal conduct.”
“We knew this was a legal long shot,” they said Monday in a news release.
Oklahoma’s three Corporation Commission members regulate oil and gas drilling, public utilities, cotton gins and key aspects of the transportation industry. Their decisions have an impact on how much Oklahomans pay for gas and electricity for their homes.
The legislators in September went to the Supreme Court after The Oklahoman reported on eyewitness accounts of drunken behavior by Hiett. No criminal charges have been filed.
The legislators said they also have complained about Hiett to the Ethics Commission.
Two employees at the Kansas Corporation Commission reported Hiett groped a man at a conference in Minnesota on June 9 while intoxicated. The man was identified at the time only as representing a company that “goes before” the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.
Hiett, a Republican, has admitted he abused alcohol that night, but said he doesn’t remember the incident and must have been joking. He also has said he is getting outpatient treatment.
Two Oklahoma Corporation Commission employees said Hiett drove drunk after leaving a party at Broadway 10 Bar & Chophouse in Oklahoma City on June 21, 2023. One of the employees also said the married commissioner made a pass at her during the party and later apologized.
Hiett has not directly addressed the accounts about the party. It was thrown by a new law firm that now represents utilities before the Corporation Commission.
Outgoing Corporation Commissioner Bob Anthony has reported he has been told of other incidents involving Hiett in Florida, California, Texas and Washington, D.C.. “Some even predate the pandemic,” Anthony, also a Republican, wrote in a filing in cases before the Corporation Commission.
In the news release Monday, the legislators pointed out Justice Douglas Combs wrote in a concurring opinion that they could still appeal rate hikes once they become final “as a violation of their due process rights to a fair and impartial judge.”
“Consequently, our pursuit of justice on behalf of Oklahoma utility ratepayers does not end here,” they said.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Corporation Commissioner Todd Hiett survives disqualification effort