State Treasurer Todd Russ is in the news again.
This time around, instead of being accused of steering lucrative state contracts to his investment buddies, he’s being accused of opening a taxpayer-funded satellite office in Clinton as part of a ruse to justify commuting to Oklahoma City in a state vehicle.
Well, at least that’s what I’m accusing him of after reading this Oklahoma Watch article:
Oklahoma Treasurer Todd Russ is using a newly created unclaimed property office in western Oklahoma as a commuting hub to get back and forth to his office in the Capitol during the work week, according to GPS data from a state vehicle.
Russ opened the Clinton office in June 2025 as part of a plan to give rural residents a place to ask questions about the state’s unclaimed property program, other than Oklahoma City.
But Russ also appears to be using the Clinton office as a commuting hub, with hundreds of trips in a state vehicle to and from the unclaimed property office and the Capitol in Oklahoma City in the past year.
Clinton is 85 miles from Oklahoma City. Russ lives in Cordell, about 15 miles south of Clinton.
Yikes. That’s pretty blatant, lazy and brazen. But, oh well, maybe this Clinton field office is legit and provides a good service to the community, and doesn’t simply look like a state-issued money laundering hub.
Seriously, can it look any more fly-by-night than that? It feels like there should be a couple of wise guys standing outside by the A/C unit smoking cigarettes, checking their phones, and waiting for someone named “Big Tony” to show up with a manila envelope full of unclaimed property.
In addition to creating a field office in Clinton so he could attempt to justify the still-likely-illegal use of a state-issued vehicle to commute to and from work, Russ – a guy who I assume can afford to pay for his own car and gas – also apparently likes to put the pedal to the metal:
Oklahoma Watch obtained GPS logs and fuel purchases tied to a 2024 Ford Expedition used by the treasurer’s office. More than 100 trips show the SUV reaching speeds exceeding 90 miles per hour. The logs recorded more than 960 trips in the past year.
State law requires an elected official or employee to obtain authorization from the Office of Management and Enterprise Services to use a state vehicle for commuting. Russ’ office does not have authorization, according to responses to an open records request made in September and verified again on May 27.
I don’t blame Russ for not answering detailed questions. He was probably on his way from OKC to Clinton and didn’t want to text and drive!
Actually, I’m kidding. If Oklahoma Watch really wants to have fun, they should request Russ’s text message and email logs and see who and what he was texting and emailing during his not-too-long 90 MPH commutes!
I guess Oklahoma Watch asked detailed questions about the vehicle’s use, but Russ’s office didn’t respond. They did, however, provide this statement:
“The treasurer’s office has one fleet vehicle assigned to it, which supports four offices around the state that provide localized services to citizens, similar to other constitutional offices and statewide elected officials,” spokeswoman Lara Blubaugh said in a May 29 written statement. “The vehicle is used by the treasurer and staff to access each of those sites as part of the constitutional duties of the office.”
Yep, that’s right. Nothing to see here. The Treasurer’s office only has one vehicle, and even though Russ is apparently the person primarily driving it, its use is allegedly similar to other constitutional offices and statewide elected officials.
Well, except it’s not:
Other statewide elected officials who responded to Oklahoma Watch said they either commute to Oklahoma City in their personal vehicles or use state vehicles in limited circumstances.
Okay, so other officials say they follow the rules and use their personal vehicles to commute. That doesn’t mean the Treasurer’s office did anything wrong. It’s not like reporters were snooping on the Treasurer while he was eating at Charleston’s:
The treasurer’s office put more than 26,000 miles on the SUV in the past year. State fuel card records tied to Russ and the treasurer’s office show more than $3,700 in fuel purchases, mostly at gas stations along Interstate 40 between Clinton and Oklahoma City.
On one day in August, the vehicle went from Clinton to the studios of Oklahoma City TV station KOCO-TV, where Russ gave an interview about the state’s 529 college savings program, according to station logs filed with the Federal Communications Commission. It then went to the Capitol for several hours. The SUV made a stop at a Walmart in far western Oklahoma City before returning to the Clinton unclaimed property office that afternoon, based on the GPS logs.
Oklahoma Watch staff spotted Russ eating lunch at a Charleston’s restaurant in Oklahoma City in February and saw him driving the vehicle as it left the parking lot. GPS logs from the vehicle show a stop there before heading back to Clinton later that afternoon. The vehicle started the day in Clinton and went to the Capitol in the morning.
Seriously, this story has everything – a state SUV, fuel receipts, mysterious western Oklahoma office, high-speed commutes, Walmart pit stops and an Oklahoma Watch reporter apparently staking out Charleston’s like it’s the Bada Bing. Cool stuff!
Anyway, I guess it will be interesting to see what, if anything, comes from this Oklahoma Watch investigation. It seems pretty obvious that Russ, at the very least, blurred some ethical boundaries to justify using a state-owned vehicle for personal commutes, and that some sort of official investigation should probably be ordered.
I guess we’ll see if anyone at OMES, the AG’s office, or whatever agency is supposed to care about this stuff decides to take a closer look.
In the meantime, I guess Russ can continue using his state-issued SUV to commute to OKC from the field office he set up as a commuter hub. Just drive safely and don’t speed.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
