By Nolan Clay, Staff Writer
The association that oversees high school athletics in Oklahoma has agreed to stop providing free playoff passes to state legislators.
It also has agreed to pay $1,200 in civil penalties to the state for not disclosing the gifts to the Oklahoma Ethics Commission the last three years.
The Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association was not trying to influence legislators or legislation, its executive director said.
“OSSAA provided playoff passes to any legislator who requested them each school year so that they could be better informed about our activities,” the executive director, Ed Sheakley, said in a news release Friday
The OSSAA is taking the steps to settle an Ethics Commission investigation into its failure to disclose the ticket giveaways.
Ethics commissioners voted 5-0 on Friday to approve the settlement agreement.
Commissioners voted March 14 to investigate the association amid alleged violations of lobbying disclosure rules.
Commissioners acted after The Oklahoman reported March 9 that the OSSAA has provided free football and basketball playoff tickets to legislators for years.
The OSSAA never reported those gifts to the Ethics Commission even though it was required to disclose the gifts once it started using lobbyists.
In the settlement agreement, the Ethics Commission called the failure nonwillful.
The OSSAA first hired lobbyists early in 2011.
The association oversees extracurricular activities for nearly every public school in Oklahoma for grades seven through 12.
Read more on NewsOK.com