Sexual Assault Task Force
A state task force addressing the backlog of untested rape kits was renewed by Gov. Kevin Stitt Wednesday after it briefly dissolved due to inaction.
The Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Task Force was formed by former Gov. Mary Fallin in 2017 to help handle a backlog of untested rape kits. It had been renewed by Stitt in 2019, but lapsed in January of this year after he didn’t sign a followup executive order to renew it.
The new order gives the task force a number of objectives related to improving rape kit testing efficiency. The state task force has made a number of policy recommendations following a 2018 audit that found more that 7,200 untested rape kits in Oklahoma.
Some of the advancements made in the wake of the task force’s creation include a statewide electronic system that allows survivors to track their kits, and directions to law enforcement that completed kits be delivered to a testing lab within 20 days.
Mental Health Falling Through Health Insurance Gaps
Research released this week shows Oklahomans who have traditional health insurance don’t have reliable access to mental health services.
A Healthy Minds Policy Initiative study found that barriers to mental health care mean many Oklahomans are either going without or paying high prices for out-of-network services.
The study found the vast majority of mental health providers in the state are out of network with most insurance plans. Companies with the broadest networks only included about 30 percent of the state’s providers.
The study’s authors write when insurance companies provide members with directories of potential providers, they tend to be faulty. Most listings are unreachable, often because the phone number listed has been disconnected.
About 2 million - or one of every two - Oklahomans are enrolled in traditional, private health insurance coverage.
Norman Fire Department Faces Allegations of Fraud
The Norman Fire Department is facing allegations of fraud for falsifying records, which may have affected their annual Insurance Services Office, or ISO rating. The rating determines how well a fire department serves the community, and it has an impact on insurance rates. The city of Norman confirmed to KOCO that the fraud allegations have been sent to the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office, but the office declined to comment on whether an investigation is active.
Tribute to Late Alex Tallchief Skibine
One of Indian Country's leading legal minds and beloved Osage citizens walked on last week.
Alex Tallchief Skibine was born in France in 1952 while his parents, Marjorie Tallchief and George Skibine, Sr., were performing with the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas. Marjorie Tallchief is of course one of the world's most famous ballerinas
When the family moved back to the United States, Skibine attended Tufts University and earned his law degree at Northwestern. In the late 1980's, he was part of the team that drafted the landmark piece of legislation known as the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
Jim Gray, Former Principal Chief of the Osage Nation remembered him as a friend who helped elevate Osage people.
“He was a smart man, lost in all of that. You know, that that legal world that existed he was a real generous. You know, a man who loved Osage people and you could just feel it."
Skibine went on to teach at the University Of Utah Law School and was among an early group of Indian Scholars producing work about the field.
OU To Join The SEC Early
The question of when OU will actually join the SEC has vexed us all for more than a year. Now we have clarity. A new agreement will send the Sooners to their new conference next year.
The 2023 athletic season will be OU’s last in the Big XII Conference. The same is true for Texas. Both schools are moving to the SEC, and the agreement announced Thursday means that will happen one year early. And it’s going to cost them.
ESPN reports the two schools will pay the Big XII $100 million to join the SEC early. That’s subject to approval by the Board of Regents, and there are offsets to ease the financial burden.
OU President Joe Harroz says the deal gives OU “command of its own future” and that he’s “eager to contribute OU’s iconic traditions and competitiveness to the SEC.”
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