🚨 796 ITEMS UNACCOUNTED FOR: WHAT HAPPENED INSIDE THE OSAGE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE? A statewide examination of Oklahoma sheriff’s offices is raising serious questions about what happens to taxpayer-owned property when one sheriff leaves office and another takes over. Since 2021, turnover audits conducted by the Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector have identified more than 3,000 items that could not be accounted for across sheriff’s offices that underwent these audits. But Osage County stands out. A 2025 turnover audit examined 1,515 fixed assets belonging to the Osage County Sheriff’s Office. Auditors reported they were unable to locate 796 of them. Among the property initially unaccounted for: • 17 vehicles • 27 firearms • 16 Flock cameras • 20 Tasers • Other county equipment, including, strangely enough, a meat slicer The distinction here matters: “unable to locate” does not necessarily mean stolen. Some property, including some firearms, was later located. But other items remained unresolved, highlighting problems with how government property was inventoried, tracked and transferred between administrations. Auditors also raised concerns about the evidence locker. Multiple people reportedly possessed master keys, weakening controls over an area containing property that could potentially be connected to criminal cases. And Osage County had been warned before. A 2017 turnover audit identified 590 items that auditors could not locate. At the time, officials said they were continuing to locate property and working to complete the inventory process. Eight years later, the next turnover audit initially identified 796. This isn’t limited to Osage County. Across Oklahoma sheriff turnover audits since 2021, more than 3,000 pieces of property have been listed as unaccounted for. In Beaver County, missing firearms became serious enough that unrecovered weapons were entered into the FBI’s database for lost or missing guns. There is another important piece to this story: These turnover audits have not covered every sheriff’s office in Oklahoma. According to reporting on the audits, only 47 of Oklahoma’s 77 county sheriff’s offices had undergone one. That makes the 3,000-plus figure worth paying attention to. Sheriff’s offices control vehicles, firearms, surveillance equipment, evidence and thousands of dollars worth of taxpayer-funded property. When administrations change, there should be a clear record showing what the county owns, where it is and who is responsible for it. The Osage County findings raise a larger statewide question: How strong are Oklahoma’s safeguards for tracking sheriff’s department property between administrations, and what happens when an audit finds hundreds of items that cannot immediately be located?