Oklahoma health agency audit could bring charges

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – A probe of the Oklahoma State Department of Health is being changed to an investigative audit, meaning it could lead to criminal charges.
State Auditor and Inspector Gary Jones told The Oklahoman on Thursday that the state attorney general’s office requested the change.
The health department requested an audit last month after Commissioner Terry Cline and senior Deputy Commissioner Julie Cox-Kain reported “a budget and operating cash shortfall” since the start of the fiscal year on July 1.
Cline and Cox-Kain resigned Monday after the Board of Health accused them of financial mismanagement.
Almost 1,500 agency employees are being furloughed without pay one day for each two-week pay period to reduce expenses. The agency previously announced plans to lay off about 250 employees, or 12 percent of its workforce, early next year.