The Frontier

FRONTIER NEWSLETTER EXCLUSIVE: After a legislative study on Flock cameras, Oklahoma Sen. Mary Boren is calling for tighter restrictions on how police use the surveillance technology. Get original Oklahoma reporting in your inbox. Our newsletters are free. www.readfrontier.org/newsletters/

We reviewed claims about the state constitution and the candidates’ track records as a former state lawmaker and a former prosecutor compete to become Oklahoma’s next attorney general.

NEW: For over a year, staff at Oklahoma’s regulatory agency built a case against the oil company with the state’s highest number of oil field pollution incidents and violations. Instead of punishing the company, officials let it restart operations. with @readfrontier.bsky.social

One heck of a story about how oil companies face no consequences for their serious violations in Oklahoma. This Oil Company Is Linked to 1,000 Pollution Incidents and Other Violations. Oklahoma Never Punished It. @nickbowlin.bsky.social @readfrontier.bsky.social

Staff at an Oklahoma regulatory agency spent over a year building a case against Citation Oil & Gas, a company notorious for oil field pollution. Instead of disciplining the company, agency leaders chose to let it resume operations. www.readfrontier.org/stories/this...

From earlier this month: Mike Mazzei and Cyndi Munson debated. We checked the facts.

A 2023 state law was intended to help low-income people escape fines and fees they can’t afford. But an Oklahoma County judge argues the law is unconstitutional. A state Supreme Court ruling could affect defendants across Oklahoma. www.readfrontier.org/stories/okla...

Two candidates want to shape Oklahoma’s energy future. They disagree on how to regulate it. www.readfrontier.org/stories/two-...

A sexual assault survivor and state evidence board member is urging lawmakers to establish deadlines for testing rape kits, saying DNA evidence has helped investigators connect cases across the country and internationally. www.readfrontier.org/stories/okla...

Republican Brad Boles and Democrat Rhonda Eastman are competing for a seat on the Corporation Commission, where commissioners oversee oil companies and utilities amid pollution problems and rising electricity demand. www.readfrontier.org/stories/two-...

They went to California for free rehab. After detoxing in a mansion, they had no ride home. www.readfrontier.org/stories/they...

Funding concerns are a key issue in Oklahoma County races this year. The Frontier examined candidates’ claims.

Recruiters promised Oklahomans struggling with addiction free treatment and housing in Southern California. Patients described sparse therapy, relapses and being left without a way home as insurers accused treatment providers of fraud. www.readfrontier.org/stories/they...

The Frontier examined how state officials helped reopen the Diamondback Correctional Facility, how the Department of Corrections and a private prison company stand to profit, and what detainees and attorneys say about conditions inside. www.readfrontier.org/stories/five...

After taking over for Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s interim state superintendent faced low morale, a backlog of records requests and lawsuits, and an agency consumed by controversy. Fields said his goal was to “clear the runway” to give his successor a chance to focus on students.

These brothers once shared an Oklahoma death row cell. Now they hope to share a home. www.readfrontier.org/stories/thes...

Detention for Dollars. How Oklahoma Cashes In on Immigration Detention.

Oklahoma County risks more costly jail lawsuits without bail reform, DA warns. www.readfrontier.org/stories/okla...

Following several deaths at the Tulsa municipal jail, the city’s mayor announced he would close the facility. Now, with the help of an @rcfp.org attorney, @readfrontier.bsky.social is suing to learn more.

The Frontier and independent documentary photojournalist Greg Constantine reviewed invoices, detention and transportation billing templates, state and city financial records and other documents related to the Diamondback Correctional Facility. Some totals are rounded for readability.

The Diamondback Correctional Facility in Watonga had been closed for more than a decade. Its owner, CoreCivic, hoped to quickly fill the prison again as part of the growing immigrant detention business. But ICE needed help from the state of Oklahoma to get a deal done quickly.

An interim study examined ways to help defendants await trial outside of jail, from expanded legal representation to individualized assessments of their ability to pay bail. Officials say reforms could reduce costs and improve constitutional protections.

Independent journalism that takes you behind the walls and beyond the headlines. The Frontier investigated Oklahoma’s Diamondback immigration detention center — examining how it opened, the questions surrounding conditions inside, and the money flowing to the nearby community.

From an empty prison to $8.3 million in monthly revenue. The money started moving before detainees even arrived. Public records over the first six months of the contract show how Diamondback began generating revenue as ICE detention increased.

Oklahoma helped fast-track a massive immigration detention center. Now questions are mounting over conditions inside.

After sitting idle for over a decade, a for-profit prison in rural Western Oklahoma is now a key hub in the Trump Administration’s plan to carry out the largest mass-deportation effort in U.S. history.

Diamondback has rapidly become one of the largest immigration detention centers in the nation since reopening late last year. Data provided by the city of Watonga indicates that Diamondback held an average of 1,923 detainees per day in August.

In a buried report, oil regulators pinpointed nearly 600 wells operating illegally, threatening Oklahoma’s drinking water. Then there were 1,400+ wells that had operated for decades without any limits at all — grandfathered in from an earlier era. (Published March w/ @readfrontier.bsky.social)

James Pavatt is scheduled to be executed Nov. 12 for killing his girlfriend Brenda Andrew’s husband in 2001. His attorney argued there was no credible evidence Pavatt was the shooter, and the jury foreperson said he now questions the death sentence.

After serving more than four decades for a 1983 killing, Tony Mann could soon be released from prison. His younger brother, who was also sentenced to death, has spent the past year rebuilding his life outside prison and fighting for Mann’s release.

The proposed office would review investigations involving deadly force, in-custody deaths and other serious incidents across city public safety departments.

The proposed office would review investigations involving deadly force, in-custody deaths and other serious incidents across city public safety departments.

An Oklahoma boarding school promised help for troubled girls. Students say they got punishment instead.

The candidates sparred over education, health care, housing, the Inola smelter and more. Here’s what the facts show.

Just wrapped up an interview with Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Lindel Fields. We talked about cleaning up messes, politics in education, his term as interim superintendent and what advice he has for his successor. Stay tuned for a story next week at @readfrontier.bsky.social

Nelson discussed her efforts to appeal to Republican voters, her concerns about federal healthcare cuts and rising costs, and why she believes listening to constituents rather than following national party politics could help her flip the Republican-held seat.