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Pawnee County Attorney and Judge at Adds Over Drug Court

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PAWNEE, Okla. (AP) — A state district attorney and judge are at legal odds over the establishment of a drug court in Pawnee County.

Rex Duncan, the district attorney for Osage and Pawnee counties, has made claims that Associate District Judge Patrick Pickerill used a "sham legal process" to backdate two administrative orders that appointed a secretary bailiff and created a drug court on October 30th.

The Tulsa World reports that another judge denied Duncan's initial claims and ratified the orders on January 14th.

Two weeks later, Duncan's office executed a search warrant that prompted the seizure of four computers from Pickerill's office in Pawnee.

Duncan says the investigation, which centers on a conspiracy to commit a felony and an effort to hide that conspiracy, began after he was alerted to the matter by an elected official.

Pickerill's attorney says that Duncan is pursuing this case because of his personal dislike of drug courts and their funding sources.