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102-622: McCurtain County is a county in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Oklahoma . As of the 2020 census , its population was 30,814. Its county seat is Idabel . It was formed at statehood from part of the earlier Choctaw Nation in Indian Territory . The name honors an influential Choctaw family who lived in the area. Green McCurtain was the last chief when Oklahoma became a state in 1907. The area now included in McCurtain County

204-1054: A city , town , or village . A few counties directly provide public transportation themselves, usually in the form of a simple bus system. However, in most counties, public transportation is provided by one of the following: a special district that is coterminous with the county (but exists separately from the county government), a multi-county regional transit authority, or a state agency. In western and southern states, more populated counties provide many facilities, such as airports, convention centers , museums, recreation centers , beaches, harbors, zoos, clinics, law libraries , and public housing . They provide services such as child and family services, elder services, mental health services, welfare services, veterans assistance services, animal control , probation supervision, historic preservation, food safety regulation, and environmental health services. They have many additional officials like public defenders , arts commissioners, human rights commissioners, and planning commissioners. There may be

306-446: A consolidated city-county or independent city exists, a city council usually governs city/county or city affairs. In some counties, day-to-day operations are overseen by an elected county executive or by a chief administrative officer or county administrator who reports to the board, the mayor, or both. In many states, the board in charge of a county holds powers that transcend all three traditional branches of government. It has

408-521: A 10-county area designated for tourism purposes by the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation as Choctaw Country . According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the county has an area of 1,902 square miles (4,930 km), of which 52 square miles (130 km) (2.8%) are covered by water. It is the third-largest county in Oklahoma by area. The terrain of McCurtain County varies from the foothills of

510-501: A 14,087-acre tract created in 1918 and managed by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation , and the Little River National Wildlife Refuge , which is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service . The county contains the location ( Smithville ) with the highest annual average precipitation in the state, at 55.71 inches. At the 2000 census , 34,402 people, 13,216 households, and 9,541 families lived in

612-464: A Democratic presidential nominee in the 21st century. The rightward shift has continued to increase, with the vote shares of Republican presidential nominees increasing in every election since 2000, winning well over 70% of the vote during the Obama era and topping out with 82.7% for Donald Trump in 2020. Agriculture and forestry have dominated the county's economy. The dense forests that originally covered

714-444: A Law Enforcement Special Agent, an individual must, at the time of employment, “shall be at least twenty-one (21) years of age and shall possess a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university" and two years of law enforcement experience with a governmental law enforcement agency and must be a certified CLEET peace officer or possess a certification by reciprocity agreement from another state. As established by Oklahoma law,

816-520: A Statewide identification system which includes fingerprints, criminal history records, juvenile identification records, and DNA profiles. OSBI also serves as the leading criminal investigation agency in the State. OSBI Agents partner with other state, county, and local law enforcement agencies to detect crime. OSBI provides assistance to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol , Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics ,

918-424: A county fire department and a county police department – as distinguished from fire and police departments operated by individual cities, special districts, or the state government. For example, Gwinnett County, Georgia , and its county seat, the city of Lawrenceville , each have their own police departments. (A separate county sheriff's department is responsible for security of the county courts and administration of

1020-460: A few counties bear names of Native American , French, or Spanish origin. Counties are most often named for people, often political figures or early settlers, with over 2,100 of the 3,144 total so named. The most common county name, with 31, is Washington County , for America's first president, George Washington . Up until 1871, there was a Washington County within the District of Columbia , but it

1122-409: A geographic area with specific boundaries and usually some level of governmental authority. The term " county " is used in 48 states, while Louisiana and Alaska have functionally equivalent subdivisions called parishes and boroughs , respectively. Counties and other local governments exist as a matter of U.S. state law , so the specific governmental powers of counties may vary widely between

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1224-400: A land area of 20,057 square miles (51,947 km ). The least extensive county is Kalawao County, Hawaii , with a land area of 11.991 square miles (31.058 km ). The least extensive county equivalent in the 50 states is the independent city of Falls Church, Virginia , with a land area of 1.999 square miles (5.177 km ). If U.S. territories are included,

1326-453: A large number of counties, and many Western states were sparsely populated when counties were created by their respective state legislatures. The five counties of Rhode Island and eight of the 14 counties of Massachusetts no longer have functional county governments, but continue to exist as legal and census entities. Connecticut abolished county governments in 1960, leaving its eight counties as mere legal and census entities. In 2022,

1428-412: A median income of $ 26,528 versus $ 17,869 for females. The per capita income for the county was $ 13,693. About 21.0% of families and 24.7% of the population were below the poverty line , including 32.4% of those under 18 and 21.2% of those 65 or over. McCurtain County is home to a significant Native American population and had a Democratic registration advantage well into the 2010s, but has not voted for

1530-415: A population over 100,000; 137 counties have a population over 500,000; 45 counties have a population over 1,000,000; and 14 counties have a population over 2,000,000. At the other extreme, 35 counties have a population under 1,000; 307 counties have a population under 5,000; 709 counties have a population under 10,000; and 1,492 counties have a population between 10,000 and 50,000. At the 2000 U.S. Census ,

1632-428: Is Lake . Words from Native American languages, as well as the names of Native American leaders and tribes, lend their names to many counties. Quite a few counties bear names of French or Spanish origin, such as Marquette County being named after French missionary Father Jacques Marquette . The county's equivalent in the state of Louisiana, the parish (Fr. paroisse civile and Sp. parroquia ) took its name during

1734-564: Is 343 sq mi (890 km ), whereas in Utah it is 2,427 sq mi (6,290 km ). The most extensive county or county equivalent is the Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska , with a land area of 145,505 square miles (376,856 km ). All nine of the most extensive county equivalents are in Alaska. The most extensive county is San Bernardino County, California , with

1836-434: Is an unusual case because it encompasses multiple entire counties in one city. Each of those counties is coextensive with one of the five boroughs of the city: Manhattan (New York County), The Bronx (Bronx County), Queens (Queens County), Brooklyn (Kings County), and Staten Island (Richmond County). Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation The OSBI is governed by a seven-member commission, with each member of

1938-795: Is appointed by the OSBI Commission, has direct control over the OSBI. Under Governor of Oklahoma Kevin Stitt , Tricia Everest is serving as the Secretary and Aungela Spurlock is serving as OSBI Director. OSBI is governed by a seven-member OSBI Commission, with all members being appointed by the Governor of Oklahoma , with the approval of the Oklahoma Senate , to serve seven year terms. Governor may remove any member at any time only for cause. No more than two members of

2040-591: Is done through the oversight of internal investigations, maintenance and security of complaint and investigative records, research and development of agency policies and procedures, and functional reviews of operating units.  The Training Office coordinates all training for the OSBI.  This includes employee attendance at external training events, coordination and development of in-house training courses and events, and maintaining records related to training received and conducted by OSBI personnel.  The Training Coordinator evaluates training programs and assists in

2142-500: Is either done at the state level or at the municipal level. In Connecticut and parts of Massachusetts, regional councils have been established to partially fill the void left behind by the abolished county governments. The regional councils' authority is limited compared with a county government—they have authority only over infrastructure and land use planning, distribution of state and federal funds for infrastructure projects, emergency preparedness, and limited law enforcement duties. In

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2244-399: Is greater than the populations of 41 U.S. states, and is only slightly smaller than the combined population of the 10 least populous states and Washington, D.C. It also makes the population of Los Angeles County 17.4 times greater than that of the least populous state, Wyoming. The second most populous county is Cook County, Illinois , with a population of 5,275,541. Cook County's population

2346-533: Is investigating the incident. Willingham also filed a federal lawsuit alleging that Manning "told a third party during a teleconference that Chris Willingham exchanged marijuana for sexually explicit images of children from a man who had been arrested on child sex-abuse image charges". On June 18, 2024, Clardy lost his bid for reelection, placing third in the Republican primary with 18.26% of the vote. McCurtain County's location in southeastern Oklahoma places it within

2448-455: Is larger than that of 28 individual U.S. states and the combined populations of the six smallest states. The least populous county is Loving County, Texas , with 64 residents in 2020. Eight county equivalents in the U.S. territories have no human population: Rose Atoll , Northern Islands Municipality , Baker Island , Howland Island , Jarvis Island , Johnston Atoll , Kingman Reef , and Navassa Island . The remaining three islands in

2550-822: Is no formal level of government (municipality, public education, or otherwise) existing below that of the county in the state. In most Midwestern and Northeastern states, counties are further subdivided into townships or towns , which sometimes exercise local powers or administration. Throughout the United States, counties may contain other independent, self-governing municipalities . In New England, counties function at most as judicial court districts and sheriff's departments (presently, in Connecticut only as judicial court districts—and in Rhode Island , they have lost both those functions and most others but they are still used by

2652-410: Is rarely a county responsibility, execution of capital punishment is never a county responsibility, and the state's responses to prisoners' appeals are the responsibility of the state attorney general , who has to defend before the state appellate courts the prosecutions conducted by locally elected district attorneys in the name of the state. Furthermore, county-level trial court judges are officers of

2754-557: Is simultaneously a city, which is a municipality (municipal corporation), and a county, which is an administrative division of a state, having the powers and responsibilities of both types of entities. The city limit or jurisdiction is synonymous with the county line, as the two administrative entities become a non-dichotomous single entity. For this reason, a consolidated city-county is officially remarked as name of city – name of county (i.e., Augusta–Richmond County in Georgia). The same

2856-548: Is spent on employee benefits and salaries, 32% ($ 20.2 million) goes to operating expenses and the remaining 4% ($ 2.5 million) is dedicated to various other expenses. For fiscal year 2023, each of the operating units of the Bureau operate with the following budgets: Since the establishment of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, 4 officers have died in the line of duty. This user, Jules at OSBI , in accordance with

2958-510: Is the central repository for all agency training conducted by employees and for accreditation of in-house courses. Created in 1991, the Information Services Division was created as the fourth division within the OSBI and is under operational control of a Division Director who is responsible for the coordination of all division programs. Its purpose is to handle the increased demand for information by law enforcement agencies across

3060-501: Is true of the boroughs of New York City , each of which is coextensive with a county of New York State. For those entities in which the city uses the same name as the county, city and county of name may be used (i.e., City and County of Denver in Colorado). Similarly, some of Alaska 's boroughs have merged with their principal cities, creating unified city-boroughs. Some such consolidations and mergers have created cities that rank among

3162-481: The McCurtain Gazette-News released audio recordings of discussions among local officials about hiring a hit man to murder the paper's publisher and a reporter, Chris Willingham, and lamenting that lynching Black people was no longer acceptable. Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt said that he was "both appalled and disheartened to hear of the horrid comments made by officials in McCurtain County". Stitt called for

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3264-634: The Alaska Constitutional Convention wanted to avoid the traditional county system and adopted their own unique model with different types of boroughs varying in powers and duties. In some states, these powers are partly or mostly devolved to the counties' smaller divisions usually called townships , though in New York, New England and Wisconsin they are called "towns". The county may or may not be able to override its townships on certain matters, depending on state law. The newest county in

3366-454: The City and County of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ; City and County of San Francisco, California ; and Lynchburg-Moore County, Tennessee A consolidated city-county may still contain independent municipalities maintaining some governmental powers that did not merge with the rest of the county. For example, the government of Jacksonville–Duval County, Florida , still provides county-level services to

3468-736: The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies . On July 1, 2009, OSBI assumed the research functions of the Oklahoma Criminal Justice Resource Center and the Oklahoma Sentencing Commission , which were dissolved at that time. OSBI is now officially recognized by the United States Bureau of Justice Statistics as the State Analysis Center. The OSBI is responsible for serving as

3570-597: The Mid-Atlantic and Midwest , counties typically provide, at a minimum, courts, public utilities , libraries, hospitals, public health services, parks, roads, law enforcement, and jails. There is usually a county registrar, recorder, or clerk (the exact title varies) who collects vital statistics , holds elections (sometimes in coordination with a separate elections office or commission), and prepares or processes certificates of births, deaths, marriages, and dissolutions (divorce decrees). The county recorder normally maintains

3672-552: The New York City Borough of Manhattan), with 72,033 persons per square mile (27,812 persons/km ) in 2015. The Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska , is both the most extensive and the least densely populated county or county equivalent with 0.0380 persons per square mile (0.0147 persons/km ) in 2015. In the 50 states (plus the District of Columbia), a total of 981 counties have a population over 50,000; 592 counties have

3774-638: The Oklahoma Chief Medical Examiner , all district attorneys, local sheriff's office, and municipal police departments when assistance is requested. It is the duty of the OSBI to investigate and detect any and all criminal activity when so directed by the Governor of Oklahoma . Typical crimes investigated by OSBI at the request of other agencies are Part 1 Crimes : aggravated assault, forcible rape, murder, robbery, arson, burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft. The OSBI has original jurisdiction over, and may on its own initiative investigate,

3876-563: The Oklahoma Department of Public Safety . It was during these years that the agency became known as the State Crime Bureau. This arrangement lasted until 1957, when the Bureau was placed under the direct control of the Governor's Office and renamed the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. Also in 1957, the OSBI began to emerge as a professional law enforcement agency. In the wake of a controversial investigation of Governor David Hall by

3978-570: The Ouachita Mountains in the northern part of the county to the rich Red River bottoms of the southern part. Sections of the Mountain Fork and Little River drainages lie in McCurtain County. The Glover River originates in McCurtain County and flows 33.2 miles (53.4 km) to its confluence with the Little River southeast of Wright City . Broken Bow Lake was created in 1968 by damming

4080-559: The Province of Maine founded York County . Massachusetts followed in 1643. Pennsylvania and New York delegated significant power and responsibility from the colony government to county governments and thereby established a pattern for most of the United States, although counties remained relatively weak in New England . When independence came, the framers of the Constitution left

4182-437: The U.S. Minor Outlying Islands ( Midway Atoll , Palmyra Atoll and Wake Island ) have small non-permanent human populations. The county equivalent with the smallest non-zero population counted in the census is Swains Island, American Samoa (17 people), although since 2008 this population has not been permanent either. The most densely populated county or county equivalent is New York County, New York (coextensive with

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4284-569: The USGS counts Guam's election districts (villages) as county equivalents. The U.S. Census Bureau counts the 3 main islands in the U.S. Virgin Islands as county equivalents, while the USGS counts the districts of the U.S. Virgin Islands (of which there are 2) as county equivalents. Common sources of county names are names of people, geographic features, places in other states or countries, and animals. Quite

4386-671: The United States Census Bureau and some other federal agencies for some federal functions), and most of the governmental authority below the state level is in the hands of towns and cities . In several of Maine's sparsely populated counties, small towns rely on the county for law enforcement, and in New Hampshire several social programs are administered at the state level. In Connecticut, Rhode Island, and parts of Massachusetts, counties are now only geographic designations, and they do not have any governmental powers. All government

4488-466: The county seat ("parish seat" in Louisiana, "borough seat" in Alaska, or " shire town " in several New England counties). The county seat usually resides in a municipality. However, some counties may have multiple seats or no seat. In some counties with no incorporated municipalities, a large settlement may serve as the county seat. The power of county governments varies widely from state to state, as does

4590-473: The median land area of U.S. counties was 622 sq mi (1,610 km ), which is two-thirds of the median land area of a ceremonial county of England , and a little more than a quarter of the median land area of a French département . Counties in the western United States typically have a much larger land area than those in the eastern United States. For example, the median land area of counties in Georgia

4692-451: The 50 states and District of Columbia. There are an additional 100 county equivalents in the territories of the United States . The average number of counties per state is 62, with a range from the three counties of Delaware to the 254 counties of Texas . Southern and Midwestern states generally tend to have more counties than Western or Northeastern states, as many Northeastern states are not large enough in area to warrant

4794-454: The 50 states and the District of Columbia. If the 100 county equivalents in the U.S. territories are counted, then the total is 3,244 counties and county-equivalents in the United States. The idea of counties originated with the counties of England . English (after 1707, British ) colonists brought to their colonies in North America a political subdivision that they already used in

4896-973: The British metropole : the counties. Counties were among the earliest units of local government established in the Thirteen Colonies that would become the United States. Virginia created the first counties in order to ease the administrative workload in Jamestown . The House of Burgesses divided the colony first into four "incorporations" in 1617 and finally into eight shires (or counties) in 1634: James City , Henrico , Charles City , Charles River , Warrosquyoake , Accomac , Elizabeth City , and Warwick River . America's oldest intact county court records can be found at Eastville, Virginia , in Northampton (originally Accomac) County , dating to 1632. Maryland established its first county, St. Mary's in 1637. In 1639,

4998-462: The Bureau's three agents or operatives were credited with reducing the number of bank robberies in the state by roughly 75 percent. Agents accomplished this by developing leads and using informants which were considered by many to be innovative investigative techniques at the time. In 1939, the Bureau was taken out from under the direction of the Adjutant General's Office and became a division of

5100-536: The Bureau, the agency was removed from the direct control of the Governor's Office. In 1976, a seven-member independent commission was created to oversee the activities of the OSBI. The makeup of the Commission includes: one police chief, one sheriff, one district attorney and four lay members. These members are appointed by the Governor and approved by the Oklahoma Senate to serve seven year staggered terms. In general,

5202-409: The Commission may reside in the same congressional district. Four members must be ordinary citizens, one must be a sitting district attorney , one must be a sitting county sheriff , and one must be a sitting chief of police . As of 2023, the current members of the OSBI Commission are: The Operational Section of the OSBI is organized as follows: The OSBI Investigative Services Division is home to

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5304-678: The Criminal Intelligence Unit which provides investigative support to the division, as well as home to the Oklahoma State Clearinghouse for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children . The Division is divided into six regional investigative offices with geographic based jurisdiction and five headquarters investigative units with functional based authority and State-wide jurisdiction: Regional Investigative Units Headquarters Units Created in 1953,

5406-702: The Director by providing budgeting, procurement and facilities management, human resources, IT services, Information Services, and Professional Standards and Training to the entire Bureau. The Support Services section is organized as follows: The Accounting and Budget Section is responsible for planning and managing the finances of the agency. The Procurement and Facilities Section is responsible for purchasing supplies and equipment, establishing and managing contracts, and managing owned and leased facilities.  Procurement receives delegated authority for procurement per Title 74 Section 85.3H (Oklahoma Central Purchasing Act) from

5508-623: The Mountain Fork River; the river is one of the state's two year-round trout fisheries. The lowest point in the state of Oklahoma is on the Little River in McCurtain County, where it flows out of Oklahoma and into Arkansas. McCurtain County is the only documented part of Oklahoma, together with Choctaw County , within the natural range of the American alligator . The county also contains the McCurtain County Wilderness Area ,

5610-399: The OSBI Commission appoints the Director, hears complaints, establishes guidelines and serves as a buffer between the Bureau and potential political pressures concerning any particular investigations. For almost one hundred years, the OSBI has been utilizing innovative techniques and expertise to solve the most serious crimes in Oklahoma. Supporting investigations across the state of Oklahoma,

5712-432: The OSBI's forensic lab was established in 1953. Continually enhancing the science and technology available for evidence testing, the OSBI achieved accreditation for the laboratory system in 2001. The OSBI maintains the tradition of serving the citizens of Oklahoma as the state's premier law enforcement agency. On September 11, 2002, the OSBI was recognized as the first Oklahoma state law enforcement agency to be accredited by

5814-471: The Office of Management and Enterprises Services State Purchasing Director.  The Human Resources Section is responsible for all aspects of personnel management, keeping agency management and employees informed of new developments and techniques, researching and preparing human resource policy and procedure. The Office of Professional Standards (OPS) ensures the integrity of OSBI personnel and operations. This

5916-475: The Oklahoma Security of Communications Act   ... which states that it is illegal to secretly record a conversation   ... Many of these recordings, like the one published by media outlets on Friday, have yet to be duly authenticated or validated. Our preliminary information indicates that the media-released audio recording has, in fact, been altered.   ... In addition to being illegally obtained,

6018-491: The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation's Criminalistics Services Division (CSD) provides services out of two laboratories and three evidence receiving facilities throughout the State with the following services offered: Latent Evidence, Firearms & Toolmarks, Forensic Biology (including CODIS), Trace Evidence, Controlled Substances, and Forensic Toxicology. The laboratories and facilities are: The central business office of OSBI. This section has responsibility for supporting

6120-644: The U.S. Census Bureau began to also count Connecticut's Councils of Governments , which took over some of the regional powers from the state's former county governments, as county equivalents. Territories of the United States do not have counties; instead, the United States Census Bureau also divides them into county equivalents. The U.S. Census Bureau counts American Samoa 's districts and atolls as county equivalents. American Samoa locally has places called "counties", but these entities are considered to be " minor civil divisions " (not true counties) by

6222-473: The U.S. Census Bureau recognized the state's nine Councils of Governments as replacement for the state's eight legacy counties for all statistical purposes; full implementation was completed in 2024. The average U.S. county population was 104,435 in 2019, while the median county, which is Nicholas County, West Virginia , had a population of 25,965 in 2019. The most populous county is Los Angeles County, California , with 10,014,009 residents in 2020. This number

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6324-475: The U.S. Census Bureau treats American Samoa's three districts and two atolls as county equivalents). American Samoa's counties are treated as minor civil divisions. Most territories are directly divided into municipalities or similar units, which are treated as equivalent of counties for statistical purposes: The U.S. Census Bureau counts all of Guam as one county equivalent (with the FIPS code 66010), while

6426-683: The U.S. Census Bureau. The number of counties per state ranges from the three counties of Delaware to the 254 counties of Texas . County populations also vary widely: in 2017, according to the Census Bureau, more than half the U.S. population was concentrated in just 143 of the more than 3,000 counties, or just 4.6% of all counties; the five most populous counties, ordered from most to least, are Los Angeles County, California ; Cook County, Illinois ; Harris County, Texas ; Maricopa County, Arizona ; and San Diego County, California . As of 2022 , there are 3,144 counties and county-equivalents in

6528-484: The United States is the city and county of Broomfield, Colorado , established in 2001 as a consolidated city-county , previously part of four counties. The newest county equivalents are the Alaskan census areas of Chugach and Copper River , both established in 2019, and the Alaskan boroughs of Petersburg established in 2013, Wrangell established in 2008, and Skagway established in 2007. A consolidated city-county

6630-513: The annual salaries for OSBI law enforcement agents are as follows: The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation's budget is generated primarily by annual appropriations from the Oklahoma Legislature. Annual appropriations make up 43% ($ 27.4 million), 39% generated from the fees charged by the Bureau ($ 24.4 million), and the remaining 18% ($ 11.7 million) coming from various other sources. The majority of OSBI's budget (64% or $ 40.8 million)

6732-472: The area at the beginning of the 21st century. Initially, the county experienced difficulty functioning because of lack of funds. When the Choctaws accepted their land allotments, their homesteads were not taxable for 21 years. No roads were built until a decade after statehood. With no bridges, ferries carried people and vehicles across the major streams. Beavers Bend State Park was opened in 1937, establishing

6834-617: The area were cleared and processed within two decades after statehood. The cleared lands then became subsistence farms. Cotton was the main money crop, until the cotton market collapsed during the Great Depression . Cattle raising, as well as production of swine and poultry, replaced cotton farming in importance. Cotton farms in the Red River Valley began raising grains and forage, instead. Natural reseeding and active reforestation projects, both public and private, have replenished much of

6936-485: The audio does not match the "transcription" of that audio, and is not precisely consistent with what has been put into print. Multiple agencies are assisting in this ongoing investigation.   ... There will be continued press releases from this agency as the investigation comes to a close and findings are forwarded to the appropriate authorities for felony charges to be filed on those involved. Jennings resigned on April   19. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation

7038-402: The board. These positions may include county clerk , county treasurer , county surrogate, sheriff , and others. District attorneys or state attorneys are usually state-level as opposed to county-level officials, but in many states, counties and state judicial districts have coterminous boundaries. The site of a county's administration, and often the county courthouse , is generally called

7140-410: The city and the county at least nominally exist, they are properly classified as counties in their own right. Likewise, the boroughs of New York City are coextensive with counties and are therefore by definition also not county equivalents. There are technically no counties in U.S. territories. American Samoa has its own counties , but the U.S. Census Bureau does not treat them as counties (instead,

7242-534: The commission appointed by the Governor of Oklahoma . The commission then appoints a director, who serves at the pleasure of the commission, as the chief executive officer of the OSBI. The current director is Aungela Spurlock and was appointed to serve as Director on September 1, 2022. In the early 1920s gangs of outlaws roamed the state robbing and burglarizing banks and terrorizing the citizens of many Oklahoma towns. These gangsters often escaped lawmen by fleeing across county lines. The United States Marshals Service

7344-421: The county (which merely implements state law). A typical criminal defendant will be arraigned and subsequently indicted or held over for trial before a trial court in and for a particular county where the crime occurred, kept in the county jail (if he is not granted bail or cannot make bail), prosecuted by the county's district attorney, and tried before a jury selected from that county. But long-term incarceration

7446-457: The county jail.) In several southern states, public school systems are organized and administered at the county level. As of 2024 , there were 2,999 counties, 64 Louisiana parishes , 19 organized boroughs and 11 census areas in Alaska, 9 Councils of Government in Connecticut, 41 independent cities , and the District of Columbia for a total of 3,144 counties and county equivalents in

7548-456: The county. The population density was 7/km (18/sq mi). The 15,427 housing units had an average density of 3/km (7.8/sq mi). The racial makup of the county was 70.54% White, 9.30% Black or African American, 13.57% Native American, 0.22% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 1.34% from other races, and 5.02% from two or more races; 3.09% were Hispanic or Latino of any race, while 28.6% were of American, 7.6% Irish , and 5.9% English ancestry. Of

7650-506: The development and evaluation of agency training needs.  The Training Coordinator is the liaison between the OSBI and CLEET for the purposes of compliance for all commissioned officers employed by the OSBI. It is the responsibility of the Training Office to provide, coordinate, and/or locate training to assist employees in meeting minimum training requirements for supervisory roles as well as commissioned status.  The Training Office

7752-507: The following crimes: For any crime that OSBI does not have original jurisdiction over, a requesting agency must seek OSBI assistance in order for OSBI to investigate the crime. There are only a limited number of agencies or officials that can request the OSBI to conduct an investigation. They are: The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation is under the supervision of the Oklahoma Secretary of Safety and Security . The OSBI Director, who

7854-399: The four independent municipalities within its borders: Atlantic Beach , Baldwin , Jacksonville Beach , and Neptune Beach . The term county equivalents is used by the United States Census Bureau to describe divisions that are comparable to counties but called by different names: Consolidated city-counties are not designated county equivalents for administrative purposes; since both

7956-461: The general law of the state or by a charter specific to that county. States may allow only general-law counties, only charter counties, or both. Generally, general-law local governments have less autonomy than chartered local governments. Counties are usually governed by an elected body, variously called the county commission , board of supervisors , commissioners' court , county council , county court , or county legislature . In cases in which

8058-622: The geographically largest cities in the world, though often with population densities far below those of most urban areas. There are 40 consolidated city-counties in the U.S., including Augusta–Richmond County; the City and County of Denver, Colorado; the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii ; Indianapolis–Marion County, Indiana ; Jacksonville–Duval County, Florida ; Louisville–Jefferson County, Kentucky ; Lexington–Fayette County, Kentucky ; Kansas City–Wyandotte County, Kansas ; Nashville–Davidson County, Tennessee ; New Orleans–Orleans Parish, Louisiana ;

8160-454: The harvested forest area. This revitalized the timber industry, which is again important to the county economy. Limestone, sand and gravel are extracted for extensive local use. County (United States) In the United States , a county or county equivalent is an administrative or political subdivision of a U.S. state or other territories of the United States which consists of

8262-449: The inhabitants, 94.4% spoke English , 2.9% Spanish , and 2.6% Choctaw as their first language. By 2020, its population declined to 30,814. Of the 13,216 households, 34.0% had children under 18 living with them, 53.3% were married couples living together, 14.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.8% were not families. Of households, 25.4% were one person and 11.0% were one person 65 or older. The average household size

8364-405: The judicial branch of the state government rather than county governments. In many states, the county controls all unincorporated lands within its boundaries. In states with a township tier, unincorporated land is controlled by the townships. Residents of unincorporated land who are dissatisfied with county-level or township-level resource allocation decisions can attempt to vote to incorporate as

8466-537: The lead scientific agency for the Oklahoma law enforcement community. The Oklahoma Legislature has directed OSBI to maintain a nationally accredited scientific laboratory to assist all law enforcement agencies in the discovery and detection of criminal activity. As such, OSBI operates the State Forensic Science Center in Edmond and regional Forensic Laboratories/Facilities across the State. OSBI also maintains

8568-560: The least extensive county equivalent is Kingman Reef , with a land area of 0.01 square miles (0.03 km ). In some states, a municipality may be in only one county and may not annex territory in adjacent counties, but in the majority of states, the state constitution or state law allows municipalities to extend across county boundaries. At least 32 states include municipalities in multiple counties . Dallas , for example, contains portions of five counties, while numerous other cities comprise portions of four counties. New York City

8670-416: The legislative power to enact laws for the county; it has the executive power to oversee the executive operations of county government; and it has quasi-judicial power with regard to certain limited matters (such as hearing appeals from the planning commission if one exists). In many states, several important officials are elected separately from the board of commissioners or supervisors and cannot be fired by

8772-599: The local officials to resign, including "McCurtain County Sheriff Kevin Clardy, District 2 Commissioner Mark Jennings, Investigator Alicia Manning, and Jail Administrator Larry Hendrix." Over 100 people gathered outside the county courthouse calling on the officials to resign. In response, the McCurtain County Sheriff's Office released a statement on Facebook reading: There is and has been an ongoing investigation into multiple, significant violation of

8874-674: The matter to the states. Subsequently, state constitutions conceptualized county governments as arms of the state. Louisiana instead adopted the local divisions called parishes that dated back to both the Spanish colonial and French colonial periods when the land was dominated by the Catholic Church . In the twentieth century, the role of local governments strengthened and counties began providing more services, acquiring home rule and county commissions to pass local ordinances pertaining to their unincorporated areas . In 1955, delegates to

8976-514: The next most common source of county names are geographic features and locations, with some counties even being named after counties in other states, or for places in other countries, such as the United Kingdom (the latter is most common in the area of the original Thirteen Colonies in the case of the United Kingdom, or in places which had a large number of immigrants from a particular area for other countries). The most common geographic county name

9078-424: The official record of all real estate transactions. Other key county officials include the coroner / medical examiner , treasurer , assessor , auditor , comptroller , and district attorney . In most states, the county sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer in the county. However, except in major emergencies where clear chains of command are essential, the county sheriff normally does not directly control

9180-448: The police departments of city governments, but merely cooperates with them (e.g., under mutual aid pacts). Thus, the most common interaction between county and city law enforcement personnel is when city police officers deliver suspects to sheriff's deputies for detention or incarceration in the county jail. In most states, the state courts and local law enforcement are organized and implemented along county boundaries, but nearly all of

9282-544: The region as a tourism destination due to the variety of recreational activities it offers. On April 2, 1982 , the county was struck by an F5 tornado. Main article: Death of Henry Lee Johnson Henry Lee Johnson was a 15-year-old boy who was murdered in 1980 in Idabel after entering the parking lot of the Black Hat Club, a "whites-only club". His murder resulted in a riot in Idabel that left two more men dead. In April 2023,

9384-578: The relationship between counties and incorporated cities. The powers of counties arise from state law and vary widely. In Connecticut and Rhode Island , counties are geographic entities, but not governmental jurisdictions. At the other extreme, Maryland counties and the county equivalent City of Baltimore handle almost all services, including public education , although the state retains an active oversight authority with many of these services. Counties in Hawaii also handle almost all services since there

9486-462: The state as well as the public. This division is the central repository for all criminal records in Oklahoma and is responsible for collecting data ranging from statewide crime statistics to information for criminal history checks. The division is divided into two sections and is organized as follows: The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, is one of the larger employers of the State. Per Title 74 O.S. Section 150.8A: In order to be employed as

9588-541: The state's French and Spanish colonial periods. Before the Louisiana Purchase and granting of statehood, government was often administered in towns where major church parishes were located. Of the original 19 civil parishes of Louisiana that date from statehood in 1807, nine were named after the Roman Catholic parishes from which they were governed. The structure and powers of a county government may be defined by

9690-727: The states, with many providing some level of services to civil townships , municipalities , and unincorporated areas . Certain municipalities are in multiple counties ; New York City is uniquely partitioned into five counties, referred to at the city government level as boroughs . Some municipalities have been consolidated with their county government to form consolidated city-counties , or have been legally separated from counties altogether to form independent cities . Conversely, counties in Connecticut and Rhode Island , eight of Massachusetts's 14 counties , and Alaska's Unorganized Borough have no government power, existing only as geographic distinctions. The United States Census Bureau uses

9792-421: The substantive and procedural law adjudicated in state trial courts originates from the state legislature and state appellate courts. In other words, most criminal defendants are prosecuted for violations of state law, not local ordinances, and if they, the district attorney, or police seek reforms to the criminal justice system, they will usually have to direct their efforts towards the state legislature rather than

9894-399: The term "county equivalent" to describe places that are comparable to counties, but called by different names. Louisiana parishes, the organized boroughs of Alaska, independent cities, and the District of Columbia are equivalent to counties for administrative purposes. Alaska's Unorganized Borough is further divided into 11 census areas that are statistically equivalent to counties. In 2024,

9996-407: Was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.06. The age distribution was 28.2% under 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 26.2% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 14.0% 65 or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.10 males. The median household income was $ 24,162 and the median family income was $ 29,933. Males had

10098-440: Was dissolved by the District of Columbia Organic Act . Jefferson County , for Thomas Jefferson , is next with 26. The most recent president to have a county named for him was Warren G. Harding , reflecting the slowing rate of county creation since New Mexico and Arizona became states in 1912. The most common names for counties not named after a president are Franklin (25), Clay (18), and Montgomery (18). After people,

10200-537: Was part of the Choctaw Nation before Oklahoma became a state. The territory of the present-day county fell within the Apukshunnubbee District , one of three administrative superregions comprising the Choctaw Nation, and was divided among six of its counties: Bok Tuklo , Cedar , Eagle , Nashoba , Red River , and Towson . In the 1820s, it was a major part of Miller County, Arkansas Territory . The area

10302-676: Was sparsely populated, with no roads or bridges and no towns. Post offices were established at small trading posts along the various trails. Towns began to form when the Arkansas and Choctaw Railway (later the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway ) was built across the area in 1902. Between 1910 and 1921, the Choctaw Lumber Company laid tracks for the Texas, Oklahoma and Eastern Railroad from Valliant, Oklahoma , to DeQueen, Arkansas . These roads still served

10404-452: Was the only law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction, but its officers were outnumbered by the bandits. In 1925, Governor of Oklahoma Martin E. Trapp , in his State of the State address recommended the creation of an agency of special investigators or state police to combat the outlaws. The Oklahoma Legislature appropriated $ 78,000 to establish the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation . A year after its creation,

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