Tulsa County Sheriff - Concealed Carry License Application Issues

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AC37

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*Mods, please sticky this so we can get everyone on the board affected by this issue made aware.*

Live in Tulsa County? Having issues dealing with Tulsa County Sheriff's Office in finishing the Concealed Carry Licensing process?

I wanted to bring OKShooters into the loop with what we've seen on this issue so far; especially since we have so many former students on the board. We just sent the below email out to former students a couple days ago; I have already received almost three dozen student confirmations of the the below issue. There is another thread running on this issue here: http://www.okshooters.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105152

*Please note that this issue is both county and time specific; if you have not applied for your Oklahoma Concealed Carry License, did not do so in Tulsa County, if you live in Broken Arrow or Sperry, or did so over a year ago (i.e. did not experience this issue), the following message will not apply to you.*


Dear OKShooters members:

I am contacting you on behalf of the Oklahoma Rifle Association, who helped get the Concealed Carry process in Oklahoma passed back in 1993, and now helps train and license instructors such as myself to teach the classes. For approximately the past 8-10 months, we have been receiving more and more students reporting serious issues finishing the licensing process in their dealings with Tulsa County Sheriff's Office. Apparently, Tulsa County Sheriff's Office has diverged from the correct licensing procedure of completing what is called the "Local Agency Check Form for Sheriffs" themselves, and has now started requiring SDA Applicants (those applying for a Concealed Carry license) to personally take this Local Agency Check Form directly to their cities' respective main police station, to get it completed, often paying additional fees in the process.

Exactly why TCSO has taken it upon themselves to start unilaterally requiring this is not 100% clear, but what is clear - straight from Paul Abel, ORA Legislative Director, and Charles Smith, ORA President - is that this extra step is not only a hassle, but is a violation of the SDA Licensing laws. To be clear: TCSO stands alone in this extra step it's forcing applicants to go through; no other County Sheriff's Office anywhere else in the entire state is requiring this (***Please note that TCSO is not requiring Broken Arrow and Sperry residents to go through this extra step***).

The ORA has tried talking to all respective entities involved in the licensing process to no avail, so it's going to require a bill being passed by the Oklahoma Legislature to permanently rectify this. Both Paul Abel and Charles Smith state that, as long as the ORA has sufficient documentation, this bill should pass with overwhelming support since TCSO alone is in violation of this law.

Here's where you come in: ORA President Charles Smith and Legislative Director Paul Abel have requested I get as much documentation as I can on this problem to assist them in their legislative efforts from my former Tulsa County students who have applied for their license with TCSO recently and who have experienced this issue.

If you have experienced this issue, or do within the next 30 days (at which time I'm going to turn over this documentation to the ORA), simply post in this thread describing specifically what you experienced, any extra fees charged for the Local Agency Check Form (beyond the $100/$200 to the OSBI, $25 to the Sheriff's Office, and $10 for Passport photos), along with any documentation/receipts you have for these extra fees/steps. ***PLEASE MAKE SURE TO POST YOUR FIRST AND LAST NAME, AND THE CITY YOU LIVE IN, AS WELL.***

Thank you so much for taking the time to help improve the licensing process.
If you have any questions, please call us at (918) 237-2063, or email us at [email protected].


Thank you and Sincerely,


Paul Melin (AC37)
Jeremiah "Bars" Blasi (thesensei)
Randy Curry
Kai Mitchell
Team Carry Legal
 

mr ed

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The cost is $3 at the Tulsa police dept.
From what has been posted elsewhere on OSA and other places. It is the fault of the city of Tulsa under former (anti-gun) mayor Kathy Taylor to share required information with the sheriff dept. Causing applicant to request and pay for approval themselves.

The steps are simple in Tulsa.
1. go to sheriff dept record office at 1st and Denver -get paper
2. go to police dept on 6th st. 2nd floor police records
3. pay $3 and have records searched get paper stamped.
4. go down hall to municipal court window.
5. get additional record search and stamp - no charge
6. return to sheriff dept and turn-in all paperwork.

No need to ever set foot in the county courthouse because everything is handled at the records dept.
Not a big deal if you have someone to drive you. But a real hassle if you don't, cause of parking issues.

I applied for mine Oct 19, 2010 and this is what I went thru.
Ed Hinds-- Tulsa
 

mr ed

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The cost is $3 at the Tulsa police dept.
From what has been posted elsewhere on OSA and other places. It is the fault of the city of Tulsa under former (anti-gun) mayor Kathy Taylor to share required information with the sheriff dept. Causing applicant to request and pay for approval themselves.

The steps are simple in Tulsa.
1. go to sheriff dept record office at 1st and Denver -get paper
2. go to police dept on 6th st. 2nd floor police records
3. pay $3 and have records searched get paper stamped.
4. go down hall to municipal court window.
5. get additional record search and stamp - no charge
6. return to sheriff dept and turn-in all paperwork.

No need to ever set foot in the county courthouse because everything is handled at the records dept.
Not a big deal if you have someone to drive you. But a real hassle if you don't, cause of parking issues.

I applied for mine Oct 19, 2010 and this is what I went thru.
Ed Hinds-- Tulsa

The reason I mentioned going to the sheriff first is. Take all your papers,photos etc. and they will look it over and tell you if you left something out or if theres a problem.
Don't sign anything til you get there it's supposed to be signed in their presence. Don't know if they will hassle you over that or not.
 

Cue

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We have been telling people about this extra step since February.

This is the first I have heard of people being charged extra for this. I thought the TPD filled out these forms for free. I will call TPD records tomorrow when I am at work and find out.
 

Darth_Vader

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Took my app in on Tuesday and i live in Bixby so i had to take the extra page to them and it was no big deal at all took about 5-10 mins at Bixby City Hall the police said they do them all the time and there was no charge.
 

jdagreek

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I have no idea as to the voracity of the original post. However, if the Tulsa County Sheriff is taking it upon himself to circumvent the law, this could be rectified quicker and easier in a different way.

If people in the Tulsa area are being negatively affected by these actions their local State Legislators could possibly solve this problem by asking the State Attorney General for an official opinion on the legality of the process in which the Tulsa County Sheriff is administering the CCW statutes.

It may take some time to do this, but if the ORA officials would approach a number of local legislators they could possibly get this issue expedited by the AG.

People who are in official positions to administer law don't have the latitude to implement the law however they want. There are always little issues that get in the way, but in general they must follow the intent and spirit of the law.

As I initially wrote, I don't know the particulars of this issue. I also know from experience the law is often interpreted erroneously by lay people. In my view and from my experience getting the AG to rule on this "specific" issue is way more advantageous than petitioning the legislature for a fix.

The problem with going to the legislature on what I think is a pretty simple issue and one that is limited to one Sheriff in the state is that once it becomes a legislative issue you really have no control in what might come out of the legislative process. In other words, in seeking a legislative fix you might wind up with something way worse than what the folks in Tulsa County are facing.

This is just the opinion of a former state politician who has seen these "legislative" fixes backfire on the people seeking them.

I have also been able to quickly solve simple problems like this one by going the route of seeking an "official opinion" from the AG. The other advantage of going this route is that at the end you will have a clear interpretation of the law that will bind the people enforcing the law.
 

SureShotXD

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I live in Bixby and had to take the extra step, no extra charge just had to make to trips downtown so no big deal to me. It would have been nice to know before hand.
 

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