Ari Fife

Oklahoma was required to create a special office to help with missing and murdered cases involving Indigenous people under a 2021 state law, but federal funding legislators planned for never materialized.

State education grant writers said they quit in frustration after a lack of support. Walters has vowed in the past not to pursue grants that don’t align with “Oklahoma values.”

Hate crime investigations based on gender and sexual orientation are complicated by a patchwork of state and federal laws. There’s no required training for police.