The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Commission today hired longtime District Attorney Greg Mashburn to head the OSBI less than a month after commissioners accepted the resignation of the agency’s previous director amid continued rumors about employee unrest.
Commissioners voted 7-0 to hire Mashburn, of Norman, who was first elected in 2006 to serve as DA for District 21, which covers Cleveland, McClain and Garvin counties. He began his fifth term as district attorney in January 2023 and announced last month that he was retiring effective March 1. He said today that Friday will conclude his time as district attorney and that he will begin his new duties as OSBI director Monday, March 3, with an annual salary of $201,175.
Commission Chairman Vic Regalado said after the meeting that Mashburn came highly recommended for the post.
“He certainly possesses all the experience and qualifications that we look forward to for the director of the OSBI,” Regalado said. “And I think it was a good pick. And again, he comes highly recommended. He’s been in this business for, I believe, close to 28 years or so. And from a personality and business standpoint and experience, he just checked all the boxes.”
Regalado, who is sheriff of Tulsa County, said the commission is excited about Mashburn’s “ability to speak with the Legislature and all the stakeholders” at the State Capitol.
“I think he’s going to shine more so than previous directors in regards to that,” Regalado said. “And then the overall leadership, I mean, this is an agency that is pretty big, but the core function is serving the citizens of Oklahoma through investigations and assisting especially the rural sheriffs in those investigations. And I think that he has those relationships intact as the Cleveland County district attorney. And so, I think it’s going to be an easy transition for him.”
Mashburn was one of two finalists for the job who were interviewed in closed session Tuesday for the position. The other candidate was Earl Morrison, of Ada, who has more than 25 years of law enforcement experience. He served as interim executive director for the Oklahoma Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training from December 2020 to May 2021 and as its assistant director from October 2020 to March 2023. Before that, he worked in Texas as police chief for Deer Park, Hutto and Snyder. At least one other person applied for the post but apparently lacked the necessary statutory requirements for the post.
Mashburn succeeds Aungela Spurlock, the first female head of OSBI who was named the agency’s director in August 2022. Commissioners during a special meeting Jan. 30 accepted Spurlock’s resignation and named Deputy Director Steven Carter interim director. That meeting was originally scheduled to discuss “performance” concerns regarding Spurlock, but two weeks before it could be held, she announced her retirement. Spurlock’s last day on the job was Jan. 30, and her terminal leave runs until her official retirement March 1. She has not disclosed her future plans.
Mashburn ‘gauging the overall morale of the agency’
Mashburn began his career as an assistant district attorney in Oklahoma County where he spent nearly a decade as a prosecutor. After District 21 voters ousted Tim Kuykendall in favor of Mashburn as DA in 2006, Mashburn has served as president of the District Attorneys Council and was appointed in 2015 by then-Gov. Mary Fallin to serve on the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control Commission. He was named outstanding district attorney for Oklahoma in 2008 and in 2024, and his office and staff have been recognized with more than 40 awards for excellence, according to his website.
“Well, you know, I was ending my career as district attorney, and I was looking at other things, but when this spot came open, I just thought what an amazing opportunity to work with the fine men and women of this agency who have such a pure mission of serving the people of the state of Oklahoma,” Mashburn said after Tuesday’s meeting. “I’ve dedicated my life to public service, and this was just a way for me to extend that service and continue to fight crime and do good work. And so, it just worked out that the end of my tenure as a DA just happened to correspond with this opening, and I just am so appreciative to the commission for entrusting me with this, for sure.”
Mashburn, who is turning District 21 over to first assistant district attorney Jennifer Austin, said he plans to travel across the state to meet with local law enforcement officers, such as sheriffs and chiefs of police. He also plans to meet with OSBI employees across the state in an attempt at “gauging the overall morale of the agency and where we’re at and what things that the people within the agency think that we can work on and do better.”
Asked what he’s heard about the morale of the agency, Mashburn said he intends to find out more.
“You know, it’s such a big agency,” he said. “There might be some disgruntled people here and there, but I won’t know until I really start talking to everyone.”
Commissioner Russ Landon, chief of The Village Police Department who was appointed to the commission last year, said after the meeting the he is excited about Mashburn heading up the OSBI.
“I mean, he’s absolutely a professional,” Landon said. “He’s experienced, he’s incredibly experienced with criminal investigations, with law enforcement, with making people safer. He has experience with the Legislature. He’s just a strong leader, a great personality. He understands leadership in that people need to be led differently. He understands that. And so, I think that’s what’s going to make him an effective leader moving forward.”
