Commissioners vote to prohibit video, audio recording within county-owned properties unless authorized by them or judges

The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners, during a Sept. 3 meeting, approved a resolution for the use of video, audio recording equipment within county-owned properties that may be made to the court clerk, who would communicate with either commissioners or the presiding judge to obtain authorization.

Court Clerk Lesa Rousey-Daniels said a resolution was passed in other Oklahoma counties wherein electronic devices used to record are banned in courthouses.

"I guess the question is, are we needing the commissioners and the judge to OK recording in every parts of the courthouse," Daniels said.

District 3 Commissioner Clif Hall said there is no audio or video recording allowed unless it's previously approved by commissioners or the presiding judge. Daniels asked for clarification if it's the judge who approves or denies recording in the courtrooms only, or the entire courthouse in general.

"I would say if they didn't want to allow access because they're not over that part that's upstairs, then they can just send them to us," said District 1 Commissioner and Chair Bobby Whitewater.

Sheriff Jason Chennault said they've shut down audio and video recording in county-owned structures but if an elected official or county employee is to be interviewed by the media, then the commissioners would be the ones who can either approve or denied it.

"I'd like to leave the judges' opinions to the third floor, to them because that's their wheelhouse but there's other things on the third floor that would be in our wheelhouse," Hall said.

Commissions were asked if the media would need prior permission to audio record monthly meetings and Chennault said, "It has nothing to do with the Open Meeting Act."

Hall said he believed the city of Tahlequah was in conjunction with the county and city officials in attendance said the resolution would be discussed during the Tahlequah City Council meeting later that evening.

In other business, commissioners and elected officials discussed Halloween at this courthouse this year. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Drive-Thru Halloween Block Party was designed and implemented to ensure the safety of trick-or-treaters and courthouse employees. Since then, Halloween at the courthouse has operated as such.

"My suggestion again would be to have it outside unless we have bad weather; rain," Chennault said. "I just think it works so much better outside, there's so much more room and so far the only thing I can remember we've had is it was chilly a couple of times since we've done that."

The block party was designed for traffic to flow in from Keetoowah Street and Cherokee Avenue on the side of City Hall, and around the block to the courthouse, and exiting on College Avenue off Delaware Street.

Since county offices aren't decorated like they used to pre-pandemic, each office had its own space set up to hand out candy.

As part of any new business that was not reasonably foreseen prior to the time of posting the agenda, Tahlequah Compliance Coordinator Ray Hammons wanted to brag on the commissioners, the city, and Cherokee Nation.

"About a year ago, my daughter Stephanie, she started trying to put together a little Jackpot [show] sponsored by Cherokee Nation to the livestock show out here," Hammons said. "They ended up getting a lot of support and a lot of help."

Hammons said the Jackpot show was held at the Cherokee County Livestock Arena last weekend, and it was a success.

"They had 64 hogs, 69 goats, 84 sheep with a total of 217 animals in that exhibit out there. [There were] 114 kids. Now, these kids come from Pawnee, Morris, Little Kansas, Poteau, Wagoner, Quapaw, Adair County, Sequoyah County, Okmulgee County, all over the state." Hammons said.

The two-day event was part of the annual Cherokee National Holiday and it was held a week earlier.

"The significance is knowing that these livestock shows, the kids and their families come from all over and they have grandparents, their parents, their siblings. Something happened here that never really has - a lot of them were spending the night here [and] staying in hotels. They were spending money at restaurants, they were going to Walmart, they were going to Atwood's, they were going to all these places and spending money," Hammons said.

Hammons added that as local leaders and the partnerships among entities, they can create and hold successful events like the Jackpot show.

"I think that there's opportunities here for growth and I think there's opportunities here for expansion of that building. Everybody in this room probably has experienced one of the Muskogee regionals. They have it now at an old airport [and] in a few years, I see it out here," Hammons said.

The board gave its nod to contracts for school resource officers with various rural elementary schools.

Commissioners approved a memorandum of agreement between Cherokee Nation and Cherokee County to provide construction, improvement, right-of-way acquisitions, and/or utility relocations for roads and/or bridges.

What's next

The next Board of Cherokee County Commissioners meeting is slated for Monday, Sept. 16 at 9 a.m., at the Cherokee County Courthouse.