Tulsa County Sheriff: Undersheriff Tim Albin Is Out

Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz announced Monday morning that Undersheriff Tim Albin is resigning.

Tulsa Undersheriff Tim Albin told News On 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright he is retiring as of May 1, 2015. 

Whether it's a retirement or resignation, it comes following the release of a document that showed concerns about the special treatment of a reserve deputy involved in a fatal shooting earlier this month.

The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office memo concerns an investigation in 2009 that showed Reserve Deputy Bob Bates received special treatment including having a supervisor sign off that Bates had 150 hours more training than he actually completed.

Special Coverage: TCSO Reserve Deputy Shooting Controversy

The report says a sergeant tried to suspend Bates for failing to meet firearm qualifications, but Major Tom Huckeby and then-Deputy Chief Tim Albin stepped in, saying that was "harassment."

Albin started his career with the sheriff's office in 1989 and was sworn in as Undersheriff in 2012. He is an Air Force veteran and has served as a jail administrator as well as supervisor of the TCSO Reserves Unit.

Albin told News On 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright this may not be the way he wanted to leave the sheriff's office, but he does so with his head held high because they've accomplished many great things over the years.

Sheriff Stanley Glanz read a statement at the Tulsa County Commissioner's Meeting Monday announcing that Albin would be leaving the department:

The last few weeks has been difficult for both the community and for the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office.

As we look as a community for answers to the situation which put Mr. Bates and Mr. Harris on that fatal path, I have also looked inside the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office organization to find what we could have done better and need to do differently. As a result of my own examination, I believe it is time for a change in my leadership team.

Today I am announcing the resignation of Under Sheriff Tim Albin. Tim has been a great contributor to the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office over the past 20 years and he has been someone I have counted on in many situations.

Given the gravity of the current situation and the need to go a different direction with our leadership and management he agrees with me that it is time for a change.

I will continue to examine my organization and there will be more changes in the coming days as I work to restore the integrity to the Sheriff's Office which the public has come to expect over the years I have been Sheriff.

Stanley Glanz

Tulsa County Sheriff