By DeAnna Maddox
PAWNEE COUNTY — Last Thursday on Aug. 28 State Representative Ty Burns pled guilty in the district court of Pawnee County to two counts of assault and one count of domestic abuse. Two days later, on Aug. 30, Burns resigned from office in a letter to Governor Kevin Stitt.
“I take full responsibility for my actions,” said Burns in a statement following trial judgement. “I deeply regret what occurred and am prepared to be held accountable.”
The resignation goes into effect October 1 and will require a special election to be called to have the position filled. Until the special election has been held Burns said his office staff will address constituents’ issues that may arise.
Judgement on Burns’ case came from Pawnee County District Judge Patrick Pickerill and resulted in a oneyear suspended sentence for each count, to be served concurrently as well as being placed on unsupervised probation. Additionally, Burns will be required to complete a year long batterers intervention program, a victimspanel,35-hoursofcommunity service, and ongoing counseling. According to a social media post by Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, Burns has received “the strongest punishment possible for a first-time offender with a clean record”.
Following court proceedings Burns announced he would be receiving treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) — a disorder that is common in those who have a background in law enforcement and military service such as Burns.
“Although not an excuse for my actions, I am receiving intensive treatment for issues from my military service that I have long ignored as a problem,” said Burns in his resignation letter. “Over the next month, I will finish taking care of the remainder of my constituents’ issues and will ensure my interim study on PTSD proceeds, where I am personally participating in a brain mapping study of veterans with a traumatic brain injury.”
Burns had initially only stepped down from his role as chair of the House Appropriations and Budget Finance Subcommittee, stating he wanted to focus on his family and constituents. His resignation letter was submitted a day after the Oklahoma House Democratic Caucus released a statement in support of the governor’s call for resignation.
“The Oklahoma House Democratic Caucus supports and joins the Governor’s call for the representative from Pawnee to step down following the news of a disturbing court hearing yesterday,” said Cyndi Munson on Aug. 29.
In his resignation letter Burns stated “It is in the best interest of the people I serve in House District 35 and most importantly my family to step down from my position”.
Regarding his resignation House Speaker Kyle Hilbert said; “I share his belief that it is best for him and his family to focus on his treatment and rehabilitation at this time. Domestic violence of any kind cannot and will not be tolerated by the House of Representatives”.
According to court documents, Pawnee County District Attorney Mike Fisher requested investigative assistance from Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) on April 29 following allegations made against Burns. In a probable cause affidavit, OSBI Special Agent Lynda Stevens revealed incidents occurred in Apil. 2025 and Nov. 2024.
“It appears Ty Burns committed the following crimes: Domestic assault and battery from gouging [Burns’ spouse]’s eye in November 2024; assault for attempting to run [spouse’s colleague] off of the road with [minor] in [victim]’s van,” reported Stevens.
The April 2025 incident followed an argument between Burns and his spouse during which Burns blamed his spouse for getting a minor drunk which his spouse denied. Throughout the following day Stevens reported that Burns would call his spouse cussing and yelling, and continued to blame her. While eating in Stillwater, Burns’ spouse reportedly believed that Burns’ stopped at a nearby restaurant to see if she was where she said she was.
“[She] had never seen Ty act that bad — ever,” Stevens stated.
When Burns’ spouse returned home the couple began arguing. His spouse said she wanted to leave with a colleague and the kids — who were all in a back bedroom at the time — because she did not want the kids around Burns when he was angry. When the colleague went to leave the house she saw Burns “being verbally abusive toward [his spouse] and pushing her around,” according to the affidavit. When Burns saw the colleague he told her that she was not taking anyone with her and to leave — a conversation that was recorded by the colleague.
The situation continued to escalate with the colleague leaving with one of the minors that were present and Burns “chasing [spouse’s colleague] and [minor]” in his own vehicle at which point he reportedly “got to the side of the van and tried to make [the colleague] weave off of the road”.
“During the chase [the colleague] hurt her back and she believed [minor] hit her head when Ty ran them off the road and they hit a ditch. Ty caused [the colleague] to drive off the road several times. At this time [minor] went with Ty,” stated Stevens.
Stevens said that during an interview with Burns he said the minor was in trouble for not doing chores and “being dumb”. Burns said the colleague was not welcome at his house and that no kids were going to be leaving with his spouse or her colleague.
“Ty told them nobody was leaving and to go to bed. [Burns’ spouse] and [her colleague] were going to leave but they did not. Ty kept telling [his spouse] and [her colleague] to just leave, get out of there, and leave him the hell alone,” Stevens relayed.
After telling the colleague to leave Burns realized the minor was in the van before taking off leading to him following them in his own vehicle.
“Ty said [his spouse’s colleague] was trying to swerve; trying to literally run Ty off of the road,” said Stevens. “Ty eventually got in front of [the colleague] and stopped her. Ty got out of his truck and told [minor] to get her ‘[expletive] in the truck.’ [The colleague] peeled out again and [minor] was screaming ‘stop, stop, stop.’ She stopped. [Minor] got out of the van and got into Ty’s truck, and he and [minor] left.”
Burns reportedly said it was disrespectful for the minor to have gone with the colleague after he said no one was going to, that he did not think there was any danger to the minor or the driver while he was chasing them, and “all [the colleague] had to do was stop”. Additionally, he also said no one would have been in danger if he did not chase the colleague, that “it was just best if he had stayed home”, and that he thought the best option was to chase the colleague rather than call law enforcement.
The case arraignment was held the same day as the initial filing during which Burns pled guilty.
Burns was first elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 2018 representing House District 35. House District 35 spans parts of Creek, Noble, Osage, Pawnee, and Payne counties including Drumright, Cleveland, Mannford, Glencoe, Hallett, Jennings, Oilton, Olive, Prue, Terlton, and more. The Attorney General’s Office, represented by Assistant Attorney General Galaviz, prosecuted the case.