Welcome To Osage County
Oklahoma’s Largest County
At the Osage County Sheriffโs Office, our mission is to provide a solid foundation on which the residents of Osage County can thrive. We are committed to building public trust and fostering safe, secure communities through professional, high-quality professional law enforcement.
Osage County holds a unique place in Oklahomaโs history and geography. As the stateโs largest county by area, it was established in 1907 when Oklahoma gained statehood. The countyโs name and heritage are deeply tied to the federally recognized Osage Nation, whose reservation boundaries are coextensive with the county itself. This land became the Osage Nation Reservation in the 19th century following the relocation of the Osage people from Kansas.
The county seat, Pawhuska, is one of the first three towns founded in the county and remains a hub of history and culture. As of the 2020 Census, Osage County had a population of 45,818 residents.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county spans an impressive 2,304 square miles (5,970 kmยฒ), with 2,246 square miles (5,820 kmยฒ) of land and 58 square miles (150 kmยฒ) of water, accounting for 2.5% of its total area. Much of the landscape is part of the Osage Plains, characterized by open prairie, while the eastern portion features the rolling Osage Hillsโan extension of Kansasโ Flint Hills. Nature enthusiasts can also explore the renowned Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, located just north of Pawhuska, where remnants of the once-vast tallgrass ecosystem are carefully preserved.
MEET OUR LEADERS
Bart Perrier
Sheriff
Billy Wakefield
Undersheriff
John Cummings
Chief Deputy
Jay Long
Jail Captain
Shane Rhames
Investigations Captain
Here are our monthly stats for August! …
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๐ก๐ค ITโS FAIR TIME, OSAGE COUNTY! ๐ค ๐ก
The Osage County Sheriffโs Office would like to welcome everyone to the 2026 Osage County Free Fair, happening September 13โ19 at the Osage County Fairgrounds in Pawhuska!
Come out and enjoy a week full of family fun, rodeo events, livestock shows, carnival rides, live entertainment, great food, and plenty of Osage County tradition! ๐ ๐๐ด๐
Thereโs something for everyone, and we hope youโll take the time to get out, enjoy the fair, support our community, and make some memories with your family and friends.
๐ฎโโ๏ธ The Osage County Sheriffโs Office looks forward to seeing you at the fair!
๐๏ธ Come on out, have fun, and enjoy YOUR Osage County Free Fair!
#OsageCountyFreeFair #OsageCounty #Community #FamilyFun #SeeYouAtTheFair #OCSO …
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๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
The Osage County Sheriffโs Office has arrested Larry Dale Todd Jr., 52, following an investigation into a shooting that occurred on September 10, 2026, near Heritage Hills Drive in Sand Springs, Osage County.
Deputies responded to the area after Osage County Dispatch received a 911 call reporting a shooting. The victim reported that Todd drove him to a residence, retrieved a black handgun, and fired one round at him while he was seated in the back seat of a Chevrolet pickup.
The victim was not struck by the bullet but sustained injuries from broken glass after the projectile entered the vehicle through the window near where he was seated.
A witness at the scene also identified Todd as the alleged shooter and directed investigators to the area where the shot was reportedly fired. Deputies recovered a .45-caliber shell casing in that area.
During the investigation, deputies obtained and executed a search warrant at the residence. Investigators located a black in color Colt handgun matching the description provided during the investigation inside a locked bedroom associated with Todd.
Todd was arrested in connection with the incident on a complaint of Shooting with Intent to Kill. Todd was booked into the Osage County Detention Center and was officially arraigned on September 14, 2026, through the Osage County District Court and is being held on a $150,000.00 bond.
All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
#OsageCountySheriffsOffice #OCSO #OsageCounty #Arrest #PublicSafety …
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A Career of Service: Environmental Deputy David McAlister Retires
After more than 16 years of service to the citizens of Osage County, Environmental Deputy David McAlister will retire from the Osage County Sheriffโs Office on September 15, 2026, leaving behind a unique legacy of protecting not only the people of Osage County, but also its land and waterways.
McAlister began his law enforcement career with the Osage County Sheriffโs Office in 2009 as a Reserve Deputy. In March 2010, he transitioned into a part-time position as a Courthouse Deputy.
His career would eventually take a different and specialized direction. In 2014, the Sheriffโs Office, working with the Osage County Board of County Commissioners, established an Environmental Deputy position funded through a grant from the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality. Created during the administration of Sheriff Ty Koch, the position recognized the need for a dedicated investigator who could focus on illegal dumping, pollution, environmental crimes, and the cleanup of contaminated areas throughout Osage County.
McAlister took on that responsibility and made the position his own.
Over the years, he successfully investigated and prosecuted numerous environmental cases, issued citations, and held violators accountable under Oklahoma law. As environmental laws and enforcement efforts evolved, McAlister remained committed to ensuring Osage County had a dedicated law-enforcement presence focused on crimes that are often overlooked but can have lasting consequences for our communities and natural resources.
His work frequently took him far from the traditional duties associated with a deputy sheriff. He investigated illegal dumping sites, identified those responsible, coordinated cleanups, removed abandoned waste, and worked to protect the creeks, streams, and land that make up Osage County.
The scale of that work has been significant.
In a May 2025 article published by Osage News, McAlister reported that in less than a year he had handled 58 calls for service, obtained 14 arrest warrants, identified and cleaned 69 sites, and helped collect and dispose of approximately 160,000 pounds of solid waste.
His philosophy toward environmental enforcement could be summarized by one simple observation he shared in that article:
โEverything ends up in the water.โ
For McAlister, environmental enforcement has never simply been about cleaning up trash. It has been about protecting private and public property, holding offenders accountable, preserving our natural resources, and leaving Osage County better than he found it.
Over the years, Deputy McAlister has become an invaluable member of the Osage County Sheriffโs Office and a tremendous resource for citizens, landowners, county officials, and other agencies.
His retirement marks the end of an important chapter, but the mission he helped build will continue.
Following McAlisterโs retirement, Deputy Bob Nail will assume the part-time position of Osage County Environmental Deputy. Nail brings extensive experience to the assignment, including training and service as a State Fire Marshal, along with additional environmental and law-enforcement experience that will help him continue the work McAlister established.
We congratulate Deputy David McAlister on his retirement and thank him for more than 16 years of dedicated service to the Osage County Sheriffโs Office and the citizens of Osage County.
Some careers leave behind statistics. Others leave behind something you can actually see.
For David McAlister, his legacy can be found in cleaner properties, restored dumping sites, protected waterways, and thousands upon thousands of pounds of waste that are no longer scattered across Osage County.
Congratulations on your retirement, Deputy McAlister. Thank you for your friendship, your dedication, and your many years of service to Osage County.
โ Sheriff Bart Perrier …
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๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ โ ๐ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐ ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ญ
September 11, 2001, is a day most of us will never forget. I know I never will.
That morning, I was attending a law enforcement training class in Shawnee, Oklahoma, when we were interrupted by the news that something horrific was happening in New York City.
Like so many Americans, my first thought was that it must have been a tragic accident. Then, minutes later, as we watched the events unfold live, the second plane struck the South Tower.
At that moment, we knew.
Our nation was under attack.
It is difficult today to remember how different the world was then. Social media didn't exist. Cell phones were mostly just phones. Internet access was limited, and information traveled nothing like it does today.
I remember calling my agency's dispatch center โ then, as now, the Osage County Sheriff's Office. I spoke with Dispatcher Jeanie Brown. Our conversation was brief, but I still remember the uncertainty and uneasiness of that moment.
In many ways, September 11, 2001, was the last day of innocence for a generation of Americans. We watched our country change before our eyes.
Three months later, I became a father. The events of September 11 reinforced something in me that has remained throughout my life: I wanted a better and safer world for my family, and I wanted to do my part to serve and protect the people around me.
Twenty-five years have now passed. Memories fade. Generations grow up with no personal recollection of that morning. And at times, it can seem that our nation has forgotten the unity, patriotism, sacrifice, and sense of purpose that followed one of the darkest days in American history.
But I will never forget.
I will never forget the 2,977 innocent lives taken.
I will never forget the firefighters, law enforcement officers, first responders, military personnel, and ordinary citizens who demonstrated extraordinary courage.
I will never forget the families whose lives were forever changed.
And I will never forget how Americans came together afterward โ not as Republicans or Democrats, not as people divided by our differences, but simply as Americans.
History must be remembered. Its lessons must be taught. And we must always strive to do better as a society and as a nation.
On this 25th anniversary of September 11, may God bless the victims, the heroes, their families, and all those whose lives were forever changed on that frozen day in history.
May God bless our first responders, our military, and the United States of America.
๐ง๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐-๐ณ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ.
๐ง๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐-๐ณ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐๐ฒ ๐ต๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐ฟ.
๐ง๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐-๐ณ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐.
โ Sheriff Bart Perrier
Osage County Sheriff …
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๐๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐๐ฐ๐จ-๐๐ฎ๐ง ๐๐ฎ๐๐ค ๐๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ซ
๐๐๐๐ ๐, ๐๐จ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ข๐๐ฌ, ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ก๐ข๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง
Henry Ben โBuckโ Starr was born March 9, 1884, and married Mamie Bruner on October 27, 1915. Starr was Native American, believed to have been Cherokee, and his familyโs ties to Indian Territory ran deep. Two of his children, Gibson and Josephine, attended the Chilocco Indian School, one of the federal Indian boarding schools that operated in the region and profoundlyโand often painfullyโshaped generations of Native families.
Starrโs own life would take him into another defining chapter of Oklahoma history.
During the rough-and-tumble years of the 1920s and early 1930s, Osage County lawmen operated in a world where oil money flowed freely, liquor flowed illegally, and violence often followed both. Few deputies embodied that era more fully than Buck Starrโa county deputy who would later become a federal officer and spend much of his career on the front lines of Prohibition enforcement.
Starr was appointed an Osage County Deputy Sheriff in October 1925, entering service at a time when the Osage Hills were crowded with bootleggers, car thieves, fugitives, and desperate men willing to shoot their way out of an arrest.
The job offered little comfort and even less certainty. Deputies worked long hours across one of Oklahomaโs largest counties, often traveling on isolated roads and confronting armed suspects with limited backup or communication. The danger was considerable, while the pay was modest. Records from 1926 and 1927 show Starr earning approximately $140 per month as a deputy.
For Buck Starr, however, the badge was only the beginning.
His career would soon carry him beyond the Osage County Sheriffโs Office and into federal service, placing him directly in the violent struggle between lawmen and the bootleggers who made illegal whiskey a thriving business during Prohibition.
๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ
Almost from the beginning, Buck Starrโs job placed him squarely in harmโs way. On January 1, 1925, before his official appointment had even fully settled, Starr was among the jailerโs taken hostage when five inmates overpowered guards at gunpoint. The escapees forced Starr and other jail staff into the jail bull pens and fledโan early reminder of how thin the line was between keeper and captive in that era.
By July 1926, Starr was trusted with some of the most serious duties a deputy could perform, transporting convicted prisoners to the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlesterโlong trips across open country with dangerous men in custody and little margin for error.
๐๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐, ๐๐ถ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ฟ๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ๐
Starr quickly developed a reputation as a determined and aggressive officer. In January 1927, he played a key role in recovering a stolen Buick Coach belonging to Dr. Roscoe Walker, apprehending suspects believed to be tied to the notorious Tecumseh jailbreak. The arrest unfolded at night after officers noticed suspicious movement on a back road. When suspects fled, shots were fired to halt the escapeโtypical of how quickly routine patrols could turn violent.
That same year, Starr transported Jep Whitehead, arrested on charges of wife desertion after abandoning his wife and twelve children near Wynonaโanother reminder that deputies handled everything from hardened criminals to deeply personal family tragedies.
By March 1928, Starrโs name appeared again in serious cases. He arrested Sephia Peters near Bartlesville on liquor charges, allegedly seizing six gallons of whiskey, five gallons of keg beer, eighty pints of homebrew, and sixty gallons of mash, the kind of haul that defined Prohibition enforcement in Osage County.
Only days later, on March 21, 1928, Starr arrested John J. Bruser and James Brunner on murder charges, demonstrating the wide range of crimes county deputies were expected to confront.
๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ ๐ฅ๐ผ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐
One of Starrโs most publicized cases came with the capture of the Havana, Kansas bank robbers, tracked to northern Osage County near Pearsonia. Acting on a tip, deputiesโincluding Starrโclosed in on the wounded fugitives, recovered stolen money, and lodged them in the Osage County Jail before returning them to Kansas authorities. The case underscored Osage Countyโs reputation as both refuge and trap for criminals on the run.
Starrโs effectiveness did not go unnoticed. He and fellow officers later received reward checks from the Governor for the capture of a hijackerโmoney that came only after dangerous, patient work carried out far from the public eye.
๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ด๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฆ๐ต๐ถ๐ฒ๐น๐ฑ
In March 1929, Buck Starr transitioned from county service to the federal level, becoming a federal prohibition officer and deputy marshal. The move placed him squarely in the center of liquor enforcement across northeastern Oklahoma. He frequently transported federal prisoners to Leavenworth Penitentiary, often moving large groups of repeat offendersโmany facing years behind bars.
Federal service brought new dangers. In June 1929, Starr was seriously injured near Bartlesville, struck in the head with a full beer bottle while attempting an arrest. Knocked unconscious, cut by broken glass, and robbed of his revolver, Starr survived. Suspects were later arrestedโstill in possession of his weapon.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ง๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด
Starrโs career reached its turning point in 1933, during a raid on a liquor still along Rattlesnake Creek between Pawhuska and Bigheart. When Bryan Fletcher fled the scene, Starr fired after repeated commands to halt. Fletcher was mortally wounded and later died at the hospital.
The shooting ignited public controversy. Manslaughter charges were filed against Starr by the county attorney following complaints from Fletcherโs family. Starr reported that he fired only after issuing multiple warnings, but the case followed him relentlessly, appearing in headlines and court filings alike.
Then, abruptly, Buck Starr vanished.
By May 1933, his position as Special Indian Officer was filled by another appointee. Court records show no resolution. No burial has ever been located. No confirmed record of his lifeโor deathโhas surfaced after the charges were filed.
๐ ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด, ๐๐ฒ๐ณ๐ ๐จ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป
Outside the courtroom and the raids, Buck Starr was deeply involved in his community. He served as a Legion leader and Sergeant-at-Arms with the Pawhuska American Legion, and his wife was equally active in Legion affairs. Like many lawmen of the era, he balanced civic duty with dangerous public service.
But unlike most, his story ends in silence.
No grave.
No obituary.
No confirmed trail beyond 1933. …
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