As Price challenges Varnell, accusatory videos dominate the election

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Pawnee County Sheriff Darrin Varnell defends himself against allegations of misconduct at the Pawnee County Jail as Shawn Price challenges him in the Republican runoff election on Tuesday, August 27.

Varnell's office is under fire on social media in the run-off election for Pawnee County sheriff in 2024 after a video posted on Facebook shows surveillance footage of inmates chasing officers with a stun gun, fighting back against deputies and officers, jumping over second-story railings and being cleaned with a pressure washer.

The explicit video was released on August 19, as Price, a former deputy warden at the Dick Conner Correctional Center, and Varnell continue to post on their Facebook campaign accounts about false claims made by their opponent and past incidents within the Pawnee County Sheriff's Office.

Varnell was elected sheriff of Pawnee County in 2020, defeating incumbent Mike Waters, who served as sheriff for 10 years. Varnell won the general election as a Republican with 58.99 percent of the vote against Waters, a Democrat who received 41.01 percent of the vote.

Last week, Waters shared the controversial prison video on his personal Facebook account.

“OMG!!!” he wrote. “I kept my mouth shut but after seeing this I have to say… Ladies and gentlemen it's time for a change.”

Just two days before the video was released, Price and Varnell attended a candidate meeting at Westport Baptist Church in Cleveland on August 17. Candidates were given five minutes to make opening statements before taking questions from the audience.

Although there were several arguments between those in attendance and the candidates, questions from the audience revolved around topics such as the taxation of marijuana cultivation, the sheriff's department's staffing plans, the candidates' priorities, the department's relationship with educational institutions, traffic enforcement and patrols.

Neither Varnell, 47, nor Price, 53, responded to multiple interview requests for this article.

Varnell and Price were the two front-runners in a three-way race in the June 18 Republican primary. Varnell received 36.64 percent of the vote and Price received 34.3 percent. Since no Democrat, Libertarian or Independent is running for the seat, the winner of Tuesday's runoff election will win the sheriff's office.

Polls in Pawnee County are open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Varnell responds to prison video with own Facebook post

On August 22, Varnell posted a video on his campaign Facebook account detailing incidents that have occurred at the Pawnee County Jail over the past four years.

The jailhouse video was posted on a sockpuppet Facebook account under the name “Courtney Ready,” but Varnell claims it was made and narrated by a former Pawnee County Sheriff's employee.

“With this video,” the narrator explains, “I want to shed light on why so many sheriff's office employees have left, why investigations are not being completed, and why many police officers refuse to be associated with the current administration.”

The first clip of the video shows an inmate chasing a guard with a shock shield – a shield laced with an electric current used to defend against attackers – through the ground and first floors of the prison.

Varnell provided a statement on three of the four clips featured in the prison video, saying all incidents “were investigated and remedial action taken, up to and including termination.”

In his response, Varnell also addresses the fourth clip cited in the video, which shows footage of an inmate being cleaned with a pressure washer in a prison cell after he has defecated himself.

“This incident occurred during the first six months of my tenure,” Varnell said. “The employee was a holdover from the Waters administration. The incident was investigated by the district attorney and the employee was terminated.”

Varnell said he met with the inmate who was pressure washed to share his concerns and regrets, claiming the former inmate is now one of his supporters.

The final clip Varnell addressed included footage of an inmate climbing over the railing of one of the prison cells before falling to the ground floor. In his statement, Varnell said the video did not show the quick response times of prison guards and emergency personnel.

“This incident occurred over a year ago, before new mental health services were established,” Varnell said. “It is also noteworthy that my staff attempted to transfer him to a mental health facility on multiple occasions, but those requests were denied.”

According to Varnell, the person was taken to the hospital and released the same day with minor injuries.

“When a former employee now works for an agency whose sole goal right now is to see me lose this election, you have to wonder what his true intentions are,” Varnell said at the end of his response video.

“His campaign is based on half-truths”

The Aug. 17 meeting, sponsored by the Keystone Peninsula Residents Association, included an open forum for residents of the Westport area near Keystone Lake to discuss county issues and questions.

Price, who has worked in law enforcement and corrections for 35 years as a dispatcher, jailer, deputy sheriff and assistant jail warden for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, began the forum with opening remarks in which he described what he believes the Pawnee County Sheriff's Office did poorly under Varnell's administration.

Price made multiple claims about an alleged $1.2 million surplus that dwindled to $77,000 in Varnell's first seven months as sheriff, a decline in inmate admissions at the newly constructed county jail, and a failure of the sheriff's office to conduct investigations.

““I'm sure I'll be accused of lying and telling half-truths,” Price said. “I'm not doing that. I've researched my background. I went and checked it out.”

Varnell, who has been Pawnee County Sheriff for nearly four years, then explained his professional background and the improvements he has made to the department since taking office in 2020.

According to the Pawnee County Sheriff's Office website, Varnell has increased the number of patrol officers, modernized the fleet, purchased new equipment and vehicles, and updated technology in the jail and at dispatch.

““We've made tremendous progress from where the sheriff's office was when I started here as a deputy in 2011,” Varnell said. “Employees bought their own equipment, bought uniforms. A lot of that has changed. Now, if they need it, it's provided to them.”

Varnell continued, “to clarify a few things” about the specific claims Price made in his opening statement.

On August 21, before Varnell's video explaining his prison sentence, he posted a nearly 10-minute video on Facebook to “refute some of the false claims made by Mr. Price this past weekend.”

In this video, Varnell refutes most of the claims Price made during the meet and greet. Varnell said traffic stops are not a “major focus” of daily patrols, but are still an essential part of the job. He also commented on DUI enforcement, officers' weekend shifts, the sheriff's office's response to all crimes, housekeeping, food costs and an audit that refuted the claim of a $1.2 million “war chest.”

“In summary, my opponent's 20 years in law enforcement have not adequately prepared him for the role of sheriff,” Varnell said. “His campaign is based on half-truths, misinformation, speculation and lies, and without any real data or evidence.”

As of the publication of this article, Price had neither interacted nor responded to the videos created by Varnell.

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