Attorney Stephen Jones joins Supreme Court effort against Corp. Commish Hiett

Attorney Stephen Jones Joins Supreme Court Effort Against OCC’s Todd Hiett

OKLAHOMA CITY (Oct. 28th) – Three Oklahoma lawmakers say that legal legend Stephen Jones will argue on behalf of their petition against Corporation Commissioner Todd Hiett, according to a notice filed at the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Friday. 

Jones is a nationally recognized attorney who led the defense team for Oklahoma City Murrah Building bomber Timothy McVeigh in the late 1990s.

The petition was filed Sept. 13 by Reps. Tom Gann, R-Inola, Kevin West, R-Moore, and Rick West, R-Heavener, who between them are all customers of the state’s three largest public utility companies – Oklahoma Natural Gas (ONG), Oklahoma Gas & Electric (OG&E) and Public Service Co. of Oklahoma (PSO). The petition seeks to prohibit Hiett’s continuing participation in utility cases at the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) involving victims and/or witnesses of criminal conduct allegedly committed by Hiett, according to witness statements given to The Oklahoman in July and August.  Hiett has refused to disqualify himself from the cases. 

The Supreme Court has called for oral arguments in the matter on Nov. 12. Until this point, the three state representatives had made their case to the court pro se, acting as their own attorney.

“Throughout his long history representing high-profile defendants, Stephen Jones has been a champion of civil rights and constitutional due process rights. We are very happy to have his help in this matter,” the three state representatives said in a joint statement.

“Our petition argues that the due process rights of millions of Oklahoma ratepayers are being violated by Commissioner Hiett in utility cases worth billions of dollars. His alleged drunken and sexual misconduct toward and in front of utility company representatives has tainted these cases, and ratepayers already are suffering from it. 

“We believe the rate payers in Oklahoma deserve fair and impartial representation from the Corporation Commission, and we are pleased Stephen Jones agrees with us. With his help and the court’s, we are confident judicial integrity and ratepayers’ constitutional rights can be restored at the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.”

Tom Gann serves District 8 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. His district includes parts of Mayes, Rogers and Wagoner counties. Kevin West serves District 54, which includes parts of Cleveland and Oklahoma counties. Rick West serves House District 3, which includes part of LeFlore County.