County solid waste manager James Womack consistently received overtime pay for the past 20 years, and his secretary, Shea Tubbs, received it, off and on, since 2020, county records show.
Both people have been charged with embezzlement by officer, a felony, for improperly receiving overtime pay from January 2024 through June 2025. The overtime pay amounted to $14,677.24 during that period and $9,654.64 for Tubbs, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation found.
In addition, other solid waste system employees received overtime, which, including Womack’s and Tubbs’ overtime, amounted to $207,819.48 during that period.
But when did the overtime pay begin?
Records in the county clerk’s office show Womack first went to work for the solid waste system on Aug. 1, 1994, and records show he first began getting overtime pay on Nov. 28, 2005, with a first check of $797.09.
Tubbs first went to work for the solid waste system in March 2016. She did not receive overtime her first four years, the records show, but began receiving it on Dec. 15, 2020, just before Christmas that year.
Womack received overtime pay each month from March through December in 2006, four months in 2007, and through July in 2008. Then the monthly payments picked up again in June 2009.
The payments stopped after August 2012 until picking up again in April 2021. They became consistent from that point on, until August 14, 2025, when they stopped.
Overtime for Tubbs stopped after that same date, the records show.
The OSBI began its probe in June 2025.
The payments to Tubbs were more erratic. In 2020, she received payments only in December. They became more consistent after that.
So far, the newspaper has found no board meeting minutes where the additional overtime pay had been approved, but not all minutes have been examined.
Neither has the paper determined when payments to the other employees began. None were shown before Tubbs came on board as secretary.
In his sworn statement, OSBI agent Devin Black said he discussed with Tubbs the payments to other employees. She stated that overtime was paid to all employees “to make it fair.”
Black said OSBI forensic auditor Leslie Pfrehm stated that solid waste employees appeared to be salaried employees who were not entitled to overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Black said employees were even paid overtime on holidays when both the office and greenbox sites were closed.
