Ryan Walters claims immunity in Bixby superintendent's defamation case (2025)

State Superintendent Ryan Walters is seeking the dismissal of a defamation lawsuit in Tulsa County District Court he calls “frivolous” by claiming his role as a government official provides him legal immunity.

In a newly filed motion, Walters also claims he was well within his First Amendment rights in late July when he called Bixby Superintendent Rob Miller a “liar,” a “true embarrassment” and a “clown” and to allege “all kinds of financial problems” at the suburban Tulsa school district.

In addition to the lawsuit dismissal, Walters wants Miller to pay his attorney’s fees, as well as financial sanctions under Oklahoma’s anti-SLAPP, or Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, law, intended to prevent the use of lawsuits or threats of lawsuits to intimidate or silence critics exercising their First Amendment rights.

“Insofar as Plaintiff seeks damages for actions taken by Superintendent Walters in fulfilling his official duties as the elected State Superintendent, Oklahoma’s Government Tort Claims Act (‘GTCA’) grants Defendant immunity from suit and bars such recovery,” Walters’ Wednesday court motion states. “Likewise, Plaintiff cannot overcome the protections afforded Superintendent Walters under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, Article II, § 2 of the Oklahoma Constitution, and the Oklahoma Citizens Participation Act (‘OCPA’). On its face, this suit is a transparent effort to punish Superintendent Walters for exercising his First Amendment rights — precisely the type of lawsuit contemplated by the OCPA, and thus subject to its expedited dismissal procedure.”

In mid-August, Miller sued Walters seeking more than $75,000 in damages. The Bixby superintendent’s lawsuit alleges slander per se — a false claim so damaging that no further proof of harm is required — and false light, which is a misleading, highly offensive characterization that could damage someone’s reputation.

In late July, Miller took to social media and publicly questioned a monthslong delay in initial notices to Oklahoma schools about their federal Title I funding allocations, which are meant to help address low-income students’ extraordinary academic needs with more teachers, tutors and/or school counselors.

School officials from across the state backed Miller’s statements, saying the lack of official estimates — which were sent out under Walters’ predecessor every May — had negatively affected their ability to budget, plan and hire for the 2024-25 academic year.

But Walters lashed out at Miller in public remarks to the press gathered after the July 31 State Board of Education meeting.

“He knows every year when he gets the Title I funds,” Walters said of Miller, “and we’re dealing with all kinds of financial problems with his district that we’re hoping to address right now.”

In his new motion, Walters stated that the court should make Miller pay up under OCPA, the state’s anti-SLAPP law, “to serve as notice that lawsuits between politicians over political issues and ideas are not a cost-free parlor game that will be countenanced or entertained by courts in Oklahoma.”

One of Miller’s attorneys, Rusty Smith of Smith Barkett Law Group, called Walters’ response “a typical motion that is filed in every defamation case.”

“Of course, we disagree with Defendant Walters’ arguments and will be filing a response that will set forth our positions,” Smith said. “We fully expect to defeat the motion and then proceed to jury trial.”