MCCURTAIN COUNTY — One year ago this week, an audio recording scandal in McCurtain County sparked nationwide outrage.
On April 16, the jail administrator involved in that recording, Larry Hendrix, was fired—only to be rehired minutes later as a deputy for the McCurtain County Sheriff’s Office, according to sources close to the situation in McCurtain County.
Those recordings in April 2023 prompted Governor Kevin Stitt to call for everyone involved to resign. Only one of them did — County Commissioner Mark Jennings.
For years, The McCurtain Gazette has investigated possible corruption within the McCurtain County Sheriff’s Office.
When the publisher, Bruce Willingham, believed public business was taking place privately, he hid an audio recorder in the meeting room.
It revealed Hendrix, Sheriff Kevin Clardy, Investigator Alicia Manning and Jennings allegedly making racist comments and plotting to kill Willingham and his son, Chris, a former reporter of the newspaper.
“I know where two big deep holes are if you ever need them,” Jennings allegedly said on the recording.
“I’ve got an excavator,” Clardy allegedly replied.
2 News spoke exclusively with Chris after the recordings came out:
At the time, the newspaper did not have an online presence. 2 News tweeted a screenshot of the article referencing the recordings, putting the small paper’s work into a larger audience for the first time.
There is a “no words” story coming out of McCurtain Co today involving county leaders discussing killing local journalists, flagrant racism & mocking a woman’s death from an arson. This is a community paper w/no online presence. https://t.co/ioe4OkrfPL pic.twitter.com/C5NuYXsOvp
— Erin Christy (@Erin_Christy) April 15, 2023
Many in the community protested the officials and a grassroots impeachment was attempted.
Months later, Attorney General Gentner Drummond found no legal grounds to oust Sheriff Clardy, adding that the comments were reprehensible but that being racist was not illegal.
Meanwhile, Tulsa-based attorney Mitchell Garrett is suing Clardy and multiple players in McCurtain County in two separate lawsuits—but still pressing multiple agencies for a criminal investigation.
“Families want justice,” he told 2 News. “As a civil lawyer, all I can bring them is monetary damages.”
In one, he claims his client, Roper Harris, was brutally beaten inside the McCurtain County jail over a protective order violation. Garrett alleges a former jail administrator, Scott McClain, called for the attack because Harris was involved with his stepdaughter.
“There is video of the guards speaking with inmates, saying, ‘this is the guy—give him the welcome wagon.’”
A wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of Barbara Barrick is also ongoing, claiming illegal lack of investigation as well as excessive force that led to the death of her husband, Bobby. He was seen on bodycam footage, hogtied by witnesses before officers arrived and used a taser multiple times.
WATCH Barrick's lawyers when they announced the lawsuit:
“We find out that McCurtain County Sheriff’s Office didn’t even use tasers—this was a personal weapon,” said Garrett.
The OSBI tells 2News there is no active criminal investigation involving McCurtain County officials.
Sheriff Clardy is running for re-election, with three others vying to take his place.
Details of Hendrix's firing are not public, but the McCurtain Gazette recently published stories outlining multiple problems, including accusations from a whistleblower that jailers were not required to go through a body scanner when other jailers have been accused of bringing in contraband.
A process server also filed a tort claim this year alleging an illegal arrest after trying to serve papers to Clardy.
The reporter, Chris Willingham, also has a defamation lawsuit ongoing and has moved from McCurtain County due to safety concerns.
2 News reached out to the law firm representing McCurtain County and have not heard back.
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