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Ranching family's speeding tickets repeatedly dismissed

by: ZIVA BRANSTETTER World Projects Editor
Sunday, July 29, 2007
7/30/2007 11:16:32 AM

Four Drummonds received more than 40 citations in the last decade, records show.

When he gave the driver a warning for allegedly going more than 100 mph, Osage Nation Police Officer Tug Broughton thought the man would be relieved.

Instead, Broughton said, the older man driving a new GMC pickup cussed at him and said: "You must not know who I am."

Before the man drove away, he told Broughton, "You will see me again."

The man, Charles R. Drummond, is a member of a prominent Osage County ranching family. At one time, the Drummonds were listed among the country's top 100 landowners, with 100,000 acres, including the Drummond Land and Cattle Co.

True to his word, Charles Drummond did see Brough ton again, three months later, on July 8, 2007. Broughton said Drummond was driving 100 mph and passing cars in a no-passing zone with a child in the back seat.

"He got real loud and vocal and basically said we don't have any jurisdiction over him," said Broughton, who is cross-deputized by the Osage County Sheriff's Office.

He said he stops cars only when he believes that the driver is a threat to public safety.

The tickets Broughton wrote to Drummond, 61, that day are among more than 40 speeding tickets that Drummond and three of his relatives have received in the state in the last decade, records show. At least 18 of those have been dismissed in their home county.

The tickets reviewed by the World were written to Charles R. Drummond; his sons, Tim Drummond, 40, and Ladd Drummond, 38; and his nephew, Thatcher Drummond, 34.

They could not be reached for comment.

The four members of the Drummond family have been clocked by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol driving 95, 97 and 112 mph, all speeds listed on tickets that have been dismissed by judges in the county.

Although the Drummonds paid a fine and court costs on all dismissed tickets, the tickets do not go against their driving records.

The prominent ranching family has a long history in Osage County, dating to 1887, when patriarch Frederick Drummond moved to Pawhuska.

The family sold a parcel of its Osage County land in 2001 for nearly $20 million, court records state.

Tim and Ladd Drummond also own a 20,000-acre cattle and horse ranch in Jefferson County, according to the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association's Web site.

Osage County Special Judge John Boggs, who approved many of the dismissals as an assistant prosecutor and later as a judge, said he had no idea how fast the cited speeds were.

"The D.A. makes the recommendation, and it's approved based upon the D.A.'s recommendation," he said. "Half the time I don't talk to these people, and I don't know what the case is about."

Boggs said he had been to several bar association parties at the Drummond ranch but does not believe that he gives the family special treatment.

"Whether it's right or wrong, the record speaks for itself," he said.

Tom Drummond, an attorney and brother of Charles Drummond, said: "All the fines were paid. All the costs were paid. It's not like they just got the tickets dismissed. In a lot of these towns and a lot of these counties, they are most interested in getting the money, and once they get the money, they don't care.

"Maybe we have a little bit of a heavy foot, but we've always been law-abiding citizens," he said. "We've always been contributors to the community."

Records show that Charles Drummond has received at least 20 speeding tickets in Oklahoma in the last decade, and six were dismissed on payment of fines. Of those that were dismissed, five were issued in Osage County.

His license has been suspended five times since 1988, records show.

In January 2006, he was ticketed by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol in Osage County for driving with a suspended license and driving 91 mph.

On March 16, 2006, the District Attorney's Office recommended a six-month deferred sentence if Drummond received no additional tickets. One month later, he received a speeding ticket in Jefferson County, yet the Osage County charge still was dropped in September.

Since then, Drummond has received three speeding tickets for driving 84, 91 and 100 mph, records show. The tickets that Broughton wrote are pending.

In a Logan County traffic stop, Drummond was cited for driving 92 mph on Interstate 35. He reportedly told the trooper that he "couldn't get around heavy traffic."

Drummond "drove off before citation could be explained," the trooper wrote on the ticket.

The top speed among the Drummond family was recorded April 3, 2005, when Thatcher Drummond was driving his Jeep on Oklahoma 60 in Osage County, records show. The Highway Patrol cited him for driving 112 in a 65-mph zone.

Thatcher Drummond was given a six-month deferred sentence, and the ticket was dismissed in December 2005 upon payment of a $373 fine and costs.

The state keeps track of speeding tickets through a point system. Speeding tickets can equal two or three points on a driver's record, depending on the speed.

The state suspends driver's licenses when the point total reaches 10. Suspensions range from one to 12 months, depending on how many previous suspensions are on a driver's record.

Osage County District Attorney Larry Stuart said his office dismisses tickets for people who ask, as long as they pay the fines and court costs.

Records show that of the first 25 speeding tickets written in Osage County in 2006, only three were deferred or dismissed. The remaining drivers paid their tickets and pleaded guilty without appearing in court.

"I don't think the Drummonds are treated any differently than anyone else is," Stuart said. "I know that if people get too many traffic tickets they get their license suspended, and then they can't make a living."

Stuart said that when his office decides to dismiss a ticket, "We don't look at their driving record. We don't have access to it."

Osage County District Judge John Kane said he plans to review the way his courts are handling traffic tickets.

"I can't direct how Mr. Stuart runs his office. He's an elected official," Kane said. "What I can do is look into how my court handles the traffic violations, and the way I would do that is to inquire of other courts and see how their system works.

"I have endeavored now that I should do that."

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