Pottawatomie and Lincoln Counties District Attorney Allan Grubb has resigned, submitting a letter to Gov. Kevin Stitt stating his resignation is effective Sep. 30.
His resignation comes on the heels of a Multi-County grand jury report issued last month recommending that Grubb be removed from office and that also requested the District Court order his immediate suspension.
In his letter, Grubb advised the governor, “I will be voluntarily suspending myself from office immediately so that a new interim District Attorney may be appointed after the death of the District Attorney-elect.”
On Monday, Grubb confirmed he has voluntarily suspended himself from the DA’s office and that First Assistant Corey Stone has taken over day-to-day operations. Grubb cited some major health concerns that have arisen for both him and with family members.
He said Monday, “My family and I have had all kinds of medical problems just recently. I almost lost my wife three weeks ago due to complications following a surgery. My youngest child has to undergo two different kinds of surgery. And I have to have a vascular surgery.”
Grubb added, “And all of that is too much to effectively run the DA’s office. My term comes to an end Jan. 1 and a new DA will take over on Jan. 2.”
An order was filed in the case Monday afternoon with the Pottawatomie County Court Clerk Valerie Ueltzen stating Grubb had voluntarily and irrevocably consented to an unqualified suspension from his office pending final resolution in the case.
The order was signed by Cleveland County District Judge Lori Walkley who has been appointed to preside over the Multi- County grand jury case.
An initial hearing in the case had been scheduled for Tuesday this week in Judge Walkley’s courtroom in Cleveland County.
The hearing originally had been scheduled for Aug. 8 in District Courtroom No. 1 of the Pottawatomie County Court house. However, Judge Lori Walkley had moved that until Tuesday of this week.
In the order filed Monday, it states a status conference and potential disposition is set for 2:30 p.m. Oct. 14 in the courtroom of Judge Walkley.
Monday afternoon, Grubb said, “I still deny all the allegations. They are completely fabricated.”
In the letter, he told the governor his request was based on “several reasons and after much discussion with my family, it is with a heavy heart that I submit this resignation.”
Grubb was elected District Attorney in the November 2018 General Election defeating Adam Panter who was the first assistant to former DA Richard Smothermon.
Grubb ran for re-election in this summer’s June 28 primary and lost his bid for a second term, losing to the winner, David Hammer, and running third behind one of his former assistants Tonya Roland.
Hammer died suddenly on Sunday, July 3, just a few days after the election.
Gov. Stitt will appoint a new district attorney. Grubb, in his letter to the governor, said he would also “like to use this time to transition for my return to private practice.”
“I has been both an honor and a privilege to serve,” he concluded.
State Rep. Dell Kerbs, R-Shawnee, whose district covers much of Pottawatomie County, weighed in on the appointment process Monday.
“I think it potentially speeds up the process since Grubb’s term would have gone until Jan. 1.”
Kerbs said all of the legislators in Pottawatomie and Lincoln Counties have been working together on the issue along with the sheriffs from both counties, some police chiefs and the law enforcement chiefs of the tribal nations.
“We’ve been in contact with the governor’s office. His team has reached out to us. At the end of the day, it’s the governor’s decision,” he said.