Oklahoma Voice v. Oklahoma State Department of Transportation

Case Number: CV-2026-78

Court: Oklahoma County District Court

Client: Oklahoma Voice

Petition Filed: Jan. 12, 2026

Background: In July 2025, Oklahoma Voice reporter Barbara Hoberock filed an open records request seeking the Oklahoma Department of Transportation’s flight logs. Specifically, the request sought about a year-and-a-half’s worth of travel logs for all passengers who flew on the agency’s plane, including the date, names of the passengers, purpose of the trip, and its cost. 

ODOT provided the travel logs, but parts of entries for flights involving the governor’s office were redacted, and in more than 50 cases, the purpose of the trip is left blank or says “not provided.”

On behalf of the Oklahoma Voice, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press attorney Leslie Briggs filed this lawsuit against ODOT, alleging the agency violated the Oklahoma Open Records Act by failing to maintain and provide complete, unredacted travel logs.    

Quote: “The goal of this lawsuit is to clarify what information may be redacted under the (Open Records Act) and what information must be gathered as required by statute in order to maintain complete records of expenditures of public funds relating to the use of the state plane,” Briggs said in a statement to the Oklahoma Voice. “Taxpayers deserve to know for what purpose their money is spent when public officials use the state plane.”

Filings:

2026-01-12: Petition for relief for violations of the Oklahoma Open Records Act