OK Senate punishes Sen. Ralph Shortey
The Oklahoma Senate on Wednesday approved a resolution imposing punishment upon Senator Ralph Shortey pursuant to provisions of the Oklahoma Constitution which in effect expel him from serving at the Capitol.
“This is not a presumption of guilt or innocence. The Oklahoma Senate has full faith that the judicial system will play out appropriately and bring this matter to a lawful conclusion. This resolution reserves the right of the Oklahoma Senate to pursue further action if more facts come to light. It would be inappropriate to comment any further due to the pending investigation,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Mike Schulz, R-Altus in a release.
KOKC TV5 in OKC is reporting that Moore police have recommended three prostitution-related charges against State Sen. Ralph Shortey. The charges include: soliciting prostitution of a minor, prostitution within 1,000 feet of a church and transporting for the purpose of prostitution.
Police say the investigation started after a man was found in a motel room with an underage boy. Employees at the Motel 8 in Moore say a person by the name of Ralph Allen Shortey checked in shortly after midnight March 9, and police arrived about 30 minutes later.
Click here for a copy of Senate Resolution 7 which imposes the following punishments:
• Shortey will no longer be authorized to occupy his office at the State Capitol or his assigned parking spot.
• The allowances for expenses of the office and postage, and for mileage and other travel expenses, granted to Shortey are hereby suspended
• Shortey's positions as a vice-chair on the committee on energy and the subcommittee on select agencies of appropriations committee are suspended.
• Shortey's membership on the committee on retirement and insurance, committee on judiciary and committee on appropriations are suspended.
• The provisions of Senate Rule 6-5 are suspended to remove Shortey's name as author or coauthor of any legislation under the control of the Senate. Any other member of the Senate may assume principal authorship or co-authorship of any such legislation as provided in the Senate Rules.
• Shortey's authority to designate an executive assistant pursuant to the provisions of Senate Rule 3-4 is hereby suspended and his executive assistant is hereby placed under the direct supervision of the chief operating officer of the Senate.
• Shortey is directed to immediately return custody of his state-owned laptop computer and any other state-owned property in his possession to the Senate.
• All pages scheduled as of Wednesday, under the sponsorship of Shortey for the remainder of the 2017 legislative session shall be under the sponsorship of the president pro tempore, and no additional pages shall be scheduled under the sponsorship of Shortey for the remainder of the 2017 legislative session.