The Oklahoma attorney general’s office accepted a petition on Thursday to investigate Ward 1 Councilmember Austin Ball following his recent legal challenges.
Last week, Norman residents filed the petition after gathering over 300 signatures, according to Stephen Ellis, an OU philosophy professor. Ellis said residents tried gathering 1% of total votes in the 2025 mayoral election after speaking with attorneys.
Ellis said he filed the petition for Attorney General Gentner Drummond to investigate Ball, which could result in a writ of ouster. According to Oklahoma law, a writ of ouster is an order to remove an elected official from public office.
“We can't directly say this is not a petition for a writ of ouster, only a court judgment can determine that … there's no challenging the gist or any of that shit. If there are enough people who ask that, the AG is supposed to investigate,” Ellis said. “He may not investigate hard, but during the investigation, Ball can be suspended.”
Ellis said Ball’s recent legal challenges, including pleading no contest to charges of embezzlement and making false statements in campaign expenditure reports, is reason for community members to seek his removal.
“Council could decide that he had violated his oath of office, which makes sense, given that one of the things he pled no contest to was a public official filing false resort. So that's pretty clearly not doing his job,” Ellis said.
April 8 Council Meeting
On April 8, Norman City Council adjourned its regular meeting before considering any action items due to failing to make quorum.
At 6:30 p.m., Mayor Larry Heikkila told the audience council would wait 15 minutes for Ball to attend the meeting. Heikkila adjourned the meeting at 6:39 p.m.
“This is awkward,” Heikkila said during the nine-minute period.
Heikkila thanked the audience for attending the meeting and promptly ended the meeting.
“Ladies and gentlemen, unfortunately … we’re going to have to adjourn because we do not have a quorum,” Heikkila said. “Thank you for coming, sorry about the inconvenience, have a good evening.”
Ward 7 Councilmember and Mayor-elect Stephen Tyler Holman, Ward 4 Councilmember Helen Grant, Ward 6 Councilmember Joshua Hinkle and Ward 8 Councilmember Scott Dixon were in the nation’s Capitol as part of an annual Washington D.C. Fly-In with 17 other city representatives to advocate for funding priorities with federal legislators.
“This conversation takes on increased importance this year given what is taking place currently in D.C. in regards to already appropriated dollars and jobs,” Ward 2 Councilmember Matt Peacock wrote in a text to OU Daily on April 9.
City Attorney Rick Knighton and Ward 5 Councilmember Michael Nash told OU Daily during April 8’s meeting they were unsure of Ball’s whereabouts.
Ball’s successor, David Gandesbery, was in the audience for the meeting on April 8. Gandesbery wrote in a Facebook post after the meeting that council’s canceled meeting was a “joke” due to Ball’s absence.
“There was 32 City employees in attendance and Life Church in his Ward 1 was presenting a new project,” Gandesbery wrote. “I encourage anyone from the community to reach out to the Mayor and Council to demand accountability.”
Under Gandesbery’s post, Ball commented later that night that he was preoccupied with a family emergency. In the comment, Ball responded to former Ward 2 candidate and Care-A-Vans co-founder Russell Rice, who suggested residents check the Oklahoma State Courts Network to determine why Ball was absent.
“I’m the only family (my children) have so maybe the city should plan accordingly when they know that many people will be absent … in case of emergencies. And if I would have known it wouldn't have been an emergency,” Ball wrote. “But don’t worry all, you’ll have your full communist council in just a few long weeks so in the meantime just enjoy Trump being president like the rest of us and tell your moms I said ‘hello.’”
The OU Daily reached out to Ball on April 9 for comment. He did not respond.
Peacock wrote he did not know where Ball was during the meeting and added Ball has not attended multiple recent meetings. Since being charged with embezzlement and false certificate by a public officer, Ball has missed special and regular meetings on Feb. 25, a special meeting on March 18 and the regular meeting on April 8.
“I assume he does not plan to fulfill the duties of his term,” Peacock wrote. ”In full transparency, it’s my opinion that Ball should resign effective immediately, so that the incoming (councilmember-elect) can be seated and give Ward 1 a voice.”
Council members elected in February will be sworn in on July 1, the first Tuesday of the month.
Peacock wrote he has never seen council unable to fulfill a quorum due to absence in his three terms, adding council was informed in advance that attendance at the meeting would be important due to half of council being in Washington, D.C.
The April 8 agenda was postponed to a special meeting on Tuesday.
Ball’s legal trouble
On Jan. 30, Ball was charged with misdemeanor embezzlement and false certificate by a public officer.
The charges stem from an investigation conducted by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations into Ball’s campaign finances after a request was sent from the Norman Police Department. OSBI’s investigator Adam York concluded that he believed Ball and his wife Kayla Ball embezzled campaign funds. York also believed Ball filed two false campaign finance reports.
According to a signed affidavit from York, several expenditures were called into question including a payment to Dental Depot for a tooth extraction that was listed as “event preparation,” payments to Walmart and payments for personal bills.
On Feb. 3, Ball told OU Daily he planned to turn himself in after a warrant was filed for his arrest.
“I’m gonna handle it in court,” Ball said.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation released a statement on Feb. 4 confirming Ball turned himself in on Feb. 3.
On Feb. 11, Ball lost his reelection campaign to David Gandesbery, who received 64.78%, or 800, Ball received 23.81%, or 294, of the vote.
In late February, Ball pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In late March, Ball changed his plea to no contest, agreeing to a plea deal. Ball will serve a two-year deferred sentence. If Ball successfully completes the conditions of the deferred sentence, the charges will be dismissed.
According to court documents, conditions include a $50 payment Victim Compensation Assessment fee and a substance abuse evaluation within 30 days.
Ball wrote on Facebook he was trying to help his children and wanted to move forward.
“I’ve been doing my best to just keep a roof over their heads and make sure they have normalcy in their lives through all this,” Ball wrote. “While my campaign account was repaid and fixed, trying to survive on my VA disability and city council income has been a challenge and deciding whether to pay for a lawyer or 2 months rent wasn’t really a choice at all given my kids have zero other financial support … Ultimately just glad to put this behind us and finish out my term the way we started, by putting Norman first and standing firm on what we believe in.”
This story was edited by Ismael Lele, Ana Barboza and Anusha Fathepure.
