Cindy Byrd
Cindy Byrd (Republican Party) is the Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector. She assumed office on January 1, 2019. Her current term ends on January 11, 2027.
Byrd (Republican Party) won re-election for Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector outright in the Republican primary on June 28, 2022, after the general election was canceled.
Biography
Byrd received her bachelor's degree in accounting from East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma, and subsequently became a certified public accountant (CPA). She grew up in Coalgate, Oklahoma, and is a graduate of Coalgate High School.[1]
Prior to becoming the state auditor and inspector in 2018, she worked for 20 years as a CPA at the Oklahoma State Auditor’s County Audit Division. In 2011, she was promoted to county audit division director, and in 2013 she was appointed deputy state auditor over local government services.[2][3]
Political career
Oklahoma Auditor of State (2019-present)
Byrd has served as the current Oklahoma state auditor since January 2019.
Issues
Audits
As state auditor and inspector, Byrd conducted several noteworthy audits of government agencies and programs.
Epic Charter Schools malfeasance (October 2020)
An October 2020 investigative audit of the Epic Charter Schools, covering fiscal years 2015 through 2020, revealed more than $80 million in financial irregularities and deficient accounting practices.[4] Testifying to state lawmakers regarding the report in February 2021, Byrd said the findings represented “largest amount of reported abuse of taxpayer funds in the history of the state.”[5]
At a May 2021 meeting, the five-member Epic Charter Schools board of directors accepted the resignations of three members affiliated with Epic Youth Services (EYS), a private educational management firm that had been running the school during the period when the financial irregularities occurred. The three members were replaced, one of the new members was named the chair, and the new board voted to terminate the EYS management contract. EYS was owned by two men who had founded the school. [6]
Responding to the audit’s findings, the Oklahoma State Board of Education withheld $9.1 million from the Epic Charter School, assessed $10 million in penalties, and imposed other fines. State officials estimated these actions would allow recovery of $20 million in misspent funds. [7]
In July 2022 the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) arrested the former chief financial officer of Epic Charter Schools during the period covered by the audit and the school’s two founders who co-owned the Epic Youth Services school management firm. The three men were charged with 11 criminal offenses, including racketeering, six counts of embezzlement of state funds, and obtaining money by false pretenses. An OSBI statement released after the arrests accused the three men of operating a “complicated criminal enterprise” that resulted in a “cost to the state of Oklahoma in excess of $22 million.”[8]
Prior to their arrest, the founders of Epic donated $744,500 to a political committee that funded Byrd’s opponent during the 2022 Republican primary for state auditor. Byrd won the race with 70 percent of the vote.[9]
Department of Public Health Audit (February 2021)
In February 2021, responding to an open records request from Mike Hunter (Oklahoma), the state’s former attorney general, Byrd released an investigative audit of the Oklahoma Department of Public Health that covered a period from September 2019 through February 2021. Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor (Oklahoma), Hunter’s replacement, had opposed the release of the audit, claiming it was not a public record.[10]
The audit found that in response to the COVID-19 pandemic emergency that began in March 2020, the department made purchases of personal protective equipment (PPE) that did not comply with the state constitution’s expenditure requirements. In other findings, the audit revealed numerous instances of poor and improper recordkeeping for purchases. [11][12]
Responding to the audit’s findings, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said: “Looking back today, we can acknowledge that there were technical errors while still knowing we did everything we could to protect citizens of this state during an unimaginable time.”[13]
In a statement defending her decision to release the audit, Byrd said:[14]
“I believe all public records should be open and easily accessible to the taxpayers. After receiving an Open Records Request, and consulting with outside legal counsel, I have concluded there is no Oklahoma statute that gives any state official the authority to withhold this information. This audit is an inspection of existing public records. Consequently, my final audit report is neither confidential nor exempt from the Open Records Act. I feel compelled, both legally and ethically, to release the full audit report to the public. Oklahoma taxpayers paid for it – they should get to see it.”[15]
Town of Bennington Investigative Audit (January 2022)
A January 2022 audit of Bennington, Oklahoma, covering the period from July 1, 2016, to June 30, 2018, showed that half of the town’s annual budget had been misappropriated over a three-month period. The financial misdeeds included numerous improper payments in excess of payroll to the town clerk-treasurer, police chief, and assistant police chief. [16] [17]
“The employees named in the audit are no longer employed with the town of Bennington and that’s all that can be released since it’s an ongoing criminal investigation,” said a Bennington town official, responding to the audit. [18]
Elections
2022
See also: Oklahoma Auditor election, 2022
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector
Incumbent Cindy Byrd won election outright against Steven McQuillen in the Republican primary for Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector on June 28, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Cindy Byrd | 70.0 | 244,433 |
 | Steven McQuillen | 30.0 | 104,538 | |
| Total votes: 348,971 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2018
- See also: Oklahoma Auditor election, 2018
General election
General election for Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector
Cindy Byrd defeated John Yeutter in the general election for Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Cindy Byrd (R) | 75.2 | 818,851 |
 | John Yeutter (L) | 24.8 | 270,313 | |
| Total votes: 1,089,164 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary runoff election
Republican primary runoff for Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector
Cindy Byrd defeated Charlie Prater in the Republican primary runoff for Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector on August 28, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Cindy Byrd | 50.2 | 144,020 |
| Charlie Prater | 49.8 | 143,032 | |
| Total votes: 287,052 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector
Cindy Byrd and Charlie Prater advanced to a runoff. They defeated John Uzzo in the Republican primary for Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector on June 26, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Cindy Byrd | 49.4 | 204,249 |
| ✔ | | Charlie Prater | 42.1 | 173,807 |
| John Uzzo | 8.5 | 34,994 | |
| Total votes: 413,050 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Libertarian primary election
The Libertarian primary election was canceled. John Yeutter advanced from the Libertarian primary for Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector.
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Cindy Byrd did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
|
Officeholder Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Re-elect Cindy Byrd, "About," accessed November 22, 2022
- ↑ Re-elect Cindy Byrd, "About," accessed November 22, 2022
- ↑ Meet Cindy Byrd, CPA, "Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector," accessed November 22, 2022
- ↑ Byrd’s Eye View, “Investigative Audit of Epic Charter Schools Raises Concerns for Every Oklahoma Taxpayer, State Auditor Says,” October 2020
- ↑ [ https://nondoc.com/2022/06/23/epic-charges-ben-harris-david-chaney-josh-brock-arrested/ NonDoc, “Epic charges: Ben Harris, David Chaney, Josh Brock arrested for ‘complicated criminal enterprise,’” June 23, 2022]
- ↑ NonDoc, “Epic Charter Schools cuts ties with Epic Youth Services, co-founders Ben Harris and David Chaney,” May 27, 2021
- ↑ NonDoc, “Epic charges: Ben Harris, David Chaney, Josh Brock arrested for ‘complicated criminal enterprise,’” June 23, 2022
- ↑ NonDoc, “Epic charges: Ben Harris, David Chaney, Josh Brock arrested for ‘complicated criminal enterprise,’” June 23, 2022
- ↑ The Oklahoman, “Oklahoma state Auditor Cindy Byrd soars to reelection despite dark-money political attacks,” June 30, 2022
- ↑ The Frontier, “Pandemic spending at the Oklahoma Health Department violated the state constitution, an audit found,” February 9, 2022
- ↑ The Frontier, “Pandemic spending at the Oklahoma Health Department violated the state constitution, an audit found,” February 9, 2022
- ↑ Oklahoma Office of the State Auditor and Inspector, Oklahoma State Department of Health, Investigative Audit, September 2019 through February 2021
- ↑ The Frontier, “Pandemic spending at the Oklahoma Health Department violated the state constitution, an audit found,” February 9, 2022
- ↑ Oklahoma Office of the State Auditor and Inspector, “Cindy Byrd Releases Health Department Audit,” February 9, 2022
- ↑ Oklahoma Office of the State Auditor and Inspector, “Cindy Byrd Releases Health Department Audit,” February 9, 2022
- ↑ KXII.com, “Audit finds misappropriated funds in Bennington,” January 11, 2022
- ↑ Oklahoma Office of the State Auditor and Inspector, “Town of Bennington, Citizen Petition Request,” January 10, 2022
- ↑ KXII.com, “Audit finds misappropriated funds in Bennington,” January 11, 2022
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