Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Commissioner Allie Friesen speaks at a meeting April 17, 2025, at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City with House lawmakers reviewing her agency’s finances. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY – The head of the financially troubled state mental health agency is accusing Oklahoma’s attorney general of misusing his office and bullying after he posted copies of her tax liens on social media.
Attorney General Gentner Drummond posted on X that the Oklahoma Tax Commission had placed three liens on Allie Friesen’s property for “thousands in unpaid taxes.”
He wrote Friesen’s most recent lien was released the same day she was appointed by Gov. Kevin Stitt to lead the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.
“How can we expect a taxpayer who doesn’t properly handle their own personal finances to be in charge of hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars?” he wrote. “Gov. Stitt needs to stop protecting Allie Friesen and start protecting our tax dollars.”
In response, Friesen, the state’s mental health commissioner, sent her staff an email saying the liens were paid off “long ago” and do not reflect her ability to lead.
“To be very clear: this is a non-issue being weaponized for political gain,” she wrote. “What is an issue – and one I cannot ignore – is the blatant violation of character, the disturbing misuse of public office, and the sustained campaign of political bullying I have endured at the hands of the Attorney General of our state.”
Drummond has called on Stitt to fire Friesen amid reports of financial disarray at the mental health department, cut or canceled provider contracts and warnings that the agency would not be able to pay nearly 2,000 employees without an emergency legislative appropriation.
Stitt appointed Friesen to the post in January 2024 after his prior appointee resigned.
Friesen wrote in her email that Drummond was angry with her after she removed him from a position of influence.
Friesen terminated his office’s representation of the agency in a class action lawsuit which accused the state of failing to provide competency restoration services to indigent criminal defendants.
Drummond backed settling it, but Friesen and Stitt initially opposed the agreement. They later agreed to settle it.
Stitt has maintained support for Friesen.
Drummond said Friday his interactions with Friesen pertaining to the mental health litigation forced him to conclude “that, unfortunately, she is not competent for the position with which she has been tasked.”
“Even before the escalation of scandals surrounding her leadership, she had shown herself not to be up to the job. It gives me no pleasure to say that, but it’s the truth,” Drummond said Friday.
Maria Chaverri, a Friesen spokesperson, confirmed that Friesen had sent the email to staff. She said Friesen’s family had fulfilled all tax obligations.
She did not respond to questions about the dollar amount of the liens and years for the back taxes.
The Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services has been the subject of audits, legislative inquiries and investigations after it was revealed the agency had a significant budget shortfall, which Friesen blamed on prior administrations.
A recent audit by State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd said the agency needed $28.7 million in emergency funding to make it through the current budget year.
“It needs a director with executive managerial experience and a mastery of basic budgetary and compliance skills,” Byrd said in a statement when she released the audit.
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