Edmond's city council will vote Monday, Sept. 28, on whether to keep City Attorney Madeline Sawyer. Sawyer dismissed a public intoxication charge against Oklahoma Secretary of State Ben Lepak on Sept. 16.

The special meeting agenda calls for a closed-door executive session on Sawyer's employment, followed by a public vote on her job status and whether to appoint an acting city attorney, The Oklahoman reported. No other business is on the agenda.

City officials have not disclosed why the council called the meeting. Council members Maggie Murdock Nichols of Ward 1 and Preston Watterson of Ward 3 both told The Oklahoman the review is not related to the Lepak case. Neither offered an alternative explanation.

When The Oklahoman asked Watterson why the meeting was being held, he said, "The agenda is posted."

Sawyer said she could not comment until Monday.

The timing has drawn attention. Sawyer filed court papers Sept. 23 to dismiss Lepak's misdemeanor charge in Edmond Municipal Court. The dismissal document stated the defendant was engaged in services the city attorney deemed more appropriate than those the court provides. Neither Sawyer nor the city has explained what those services are.

Lepak, 42, was arrested Aug. 14 outside an Edmond McDonald's after an employee called police just before 11 p.m. to report a man who appeared intoxicated. According to the police report, Lepak had "extremely slurred speech" and officers could smell alcohol on his breath, KOKH Fox 25 reported. He initially told officers he had been at church and denied drinking. Body-cam footage shows him telling an officer, "I work for the state," as he was placed in a patrol vehicle.

Edmond police did not administer a breathalyzer test at the scene.

The arrest was Lepak's third alcohol-related encounter with police in five years. He pleaded no contest in December 2022 to a public intoxication citation from earlier that year in Edmond. In May 2021, The Village police arrested him on suspicion of being in control of a vehicle while intoxicated after finding him asleep behind the wheel of a pickup truck next to an open container of beer, according to Oklahoma Voice. He received a one-year deferred sentence.

Lepak's dismissal stood out in Edmond Municipal Court records. KFOR reviewed 305 public intoxication cases filed since September 2025. Of the 181 that concluded, 76% ended in a conviction. Of 98 defendants who paid the full $280 fine, 72 were convicted and 21 had to plead no contest and complete about six months of probation before their cases were dismissed. Only three people, including Lepak, paid the fine and walked away without a conviction or probation.

Attorney General Gentner Drummond called on Gov. Kevin Stitt to place Lepak on leave and later to fire him. Stitt has said he cannot dismiss the secretary of state because it is a constitutional office. News 9 reported that Stitt did not respond to requests for comment about the dismissal.

Drummond's press secretary, Leslie Berger, told The Oklahoman that Drummond stood by his earlier characterization of Lepak's conduct as "thoroughly unbecoming of such a high ranking state official" and deferred further questions to the city.

Sawyer has served as Edmond's city attorney since 2024. She previously was the assistant city attorney from 2021 to 2023. Her duties include prosecuting cases on behalf of the city. Lepak has served as secretary of state since October 2025, appointed by Stitt after working as the governor's general counsel.

Lepak has not issued a public statement about his arrest and has not responded to multiple requests for comment from The Oklahoman. Drummond's office has pledged to continue working with Edmond on an independent investigation into the arrest.