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Criminal Case Against Schools Superintendent Joy Hofmeister Dropped

State schools superintendent Joy Hofmeister
Emily Wendler
/
State Impact

Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater dropped all felony charges against State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister Tuesday. 

Prater charged Hofmeister with four felony counts in November 2016, alleging she had colluded with a “dark money” group during her 2014 campaign for state superintendent. Two of the charges were for accepting illegal donations, and the other two were for conspiring to break campaign finance laws. 

Hofmeister said at a press conference Tuesday she is grateful. “For nine months I have had to conduct my life in the shadow of unjust and untrue accusation,” she said. “But I knew the truth. I knew I was innocent.”

In the online filing, Prater noted the charges were being dismissed “pending further investigation.”

Hofmeister’s lawyer, Gary Wood, said he doesn’t know what that means. “All we know is what is written in the dismissal,” he said. “I’m not sure what investigation would be ongoing after three years. I mean this is a case that’s been out there for three years, and you would think the investigation would be complete prior to the filing of charges rather than ongoing at this time after charges were filed.”

Four others were charged in the case, and all charges have been dropped against them as well.

The 28-page affidavit that Prater originally filed alleges members of the Cooperative Council for Oklahoma School Administration (CCOSA), Oklahoma Education Association (OEA), and Hofmeister funneled money from a donor corporation – American Fidelity—to the “dark money” group, Oklahomans for Public School Excellence, which then used the funds to finance a negative campaign ad against then-opponent Janet Barresi. 

State law prohibits candidates from collaborating with dark money groups because they do not have to disclose their donors and can spend unlimited amounts of money on campaigns. Candidates, however, cannot receive contributions in excess of $5,000, and must reveal who their donors are. 

In graduate school at the University of Montana, Emily Wendler focused on Environmental Science and Natural Resource reporting with an emphasis on agriculture. About halfway through her Master’s program a professor introduced her to radio and she fell in love. She has since reported for KBGA, the University of Montana’s college radio station and Montana’s PBS Newsbrief. She was a finalist in a national in-depth radio reporting competition for an investigatory piece she produced on campus rape. She also produced in-depth reports on wind energy and local food for Montana Public Radio. She is very excited to be working in Oklahoma City, and you can hear her work on all things from education to agriculture right here on KOSU.
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