Judge dismisses lawsuit against Stitt appointee on Oklahoma Veterans Commission

A local judge dismissed a lawsuit alleging Gov. Kevin Stitt violated state law when he appointed a new member of the Oklahoma Veterans Commission.

Oklahoma County District Judge Anthony Bonner on Monday ruled the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the lawsuit.

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The lawsuit from the Oklahoma Military Order of the Purple Heart alleged a new member of the Veterans Commission could not serve in that role because the group had not recommended his appointment. The national Military Order of the Purple Heart said it did not condone the lawsuit and launched an investigation of its Oklahoma chapter as a result.

Members of the Oklahoma chapter of the group, including ousted Veterans Commissioner Larry Van Schuyver, sued Robert Allen Jr., whom Stitt appointed last month to the governing board for the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs.

Stitt spokeswoman Kate Vesper said the governor appointed Allen, a lifetime Military Order of the Purple Heart member and combat veteran who served two tours in Iraq, with the utmost confidence in his qualifications and ability to serve on the commission.

"We are glad to see the court reaffirm Allen’s appointment while rejecting yet another politically motivated attack," she said.

Attorney Mark Hammons, who is representing the Oklahoma Military Order of the Purple Heart, said he doesn't consider the lawsuit to be over. He said he plans to ask the judge to reconsider the order's legal standing.

"We will be continuing with the lawsuit," he said. "The lawsuit is not over."

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Bonner said the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the lawsuit because the order conceded it had not submitted financial reports required by state law in order to be eligible to recommend appointees to the governor.

State law says the governor must pick one veterans commissioner from a list of five names submitted by the order so long as the group submits timely performance and financial audits of its organization.

Stitt's office argued the governor was free to appoint a veteran of his choosing to fill the order's seat on the commission because the group had not submitted the audits.

As a result of the order's "ineligible" status to submit nominees, any people the group recommends have no right to claim the appointment and therefore, cannot be considered contestants for the office — a requirement in order to have standing in the case, Bonner wrote. A person must demonstrate they have a legal right to bring a lawsuit.

Only the attorney general, district attorney or a contestant for the office would have standing in this case, Bonner wrote.

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The five nominees the order said it recommended to the governor were plaintiffs in the lawsuit. In Bonner's ruling, he noted Stitt's appointments director said in an affidavit that the order had never submitted a list of nominees to the governor's office.

Van Schuyver and a second former veterans commissioner, both of whom were removed by Stitt, are suing the governor. They allege Stitt replaced them on the commission because they supported one of his opponents in the June Republican primary. That lawsuit is ongoing.

Veterans commissioners serve at the pleasure of the governor and can be removed at any time.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include comments from an attorney representing the Oklahoma Military Order of the Purple Heart.