A dispute over who can fairly oversee Oklahoma's long-delayed homeowners insurance competitiveness hearing has halted the case. Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready is set to rule on the motion seeking to disqualify the hearing examiner he appointed, independent examiner John Miller. Any motion seeking to disqualify Mulready must be decided by the remaining members of the Insurance Department if a quorum exists, or potentially by a replacement named by Gov. Kevin Stitt if no quorum exists.
The hearing examines whether Oklahoma's homeowners insurance market remains genuinely competitive and has been stayed indefinitely while the disqualification dispute is resolved, according to The Journal Record. Attorneys for Attorney General Gentner Drummond and insurance commissioner candidate Bob Sullivan have sought the removal of both Mulready and Miller, arguing that each has a potential conflict in a proceeding involving a market Mulready has already publicly described as competitive.
Miller held a disqualification hearing over Microsoft Teams but concluded that Mulready, as the agency's administrative head, has authority to decide Miller's disqualification motion, according to the report. Michael Burrage, co-founder and managing partner of Whitten Burrage, said 75 O.S. § 316 requires the administrative head to resolve a disqualification issue promptly. Miller has served as a hearing examiner for years and is under contract with the Oklahoma Insurance Department, which appointed him in July 2026.
The recusal question
Burrage has argued that the process raises due-process concerns because Mulready appointed Miller and the Insurance Department is both involved in the proceeding and has a direct stake in its outcome, according to the report. His position is that an official whose own impartiality is being challenged should not control the selection of the alternative hearing officer.
A prior Oklahoma recusal case
Oklahoma courts have treated agency-recusal disputes as fact-specific. In a separate case reported by KGOU on Dec. 11, 2024, the state Supreme Court declined to remove Corporation Commissioner Todd Hiett from several utility cases but said it could disqualify a commissioner in appropriate circumstances. That case involved the Corporation Commission, not the Insurance Department's current homeowners insurance proceeding.
The statute does lay out a path if Mulready is disqualified: the department would have to assign another hearing examiner, or the department could conduct the hearing itself. If Mulready instead disqualifies Miller, the department may conduct the hearing itself. But if Mulready's own disqualification is at issue and the department lacks a quorum, Governor Kevin Stitt may name his replacement; if a quorum remains, the remaining members of the department must determine any attempt to disqualify Mulready.
Department Pushes Back on Bias Claims
Bo DeBose, assistant general counsel for the Oklahoma Insurance Department, said there were no grounds to disqualify either Miller or Mulready, and the department has formally opposed the motions. DeBose also said Mulready would have no influence over a new independent hearing examiner if Miller is disqualified, according to the report.
Mulready has maintained that Oklahoma's homeowners insurance market is competitive, citing the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index and the four-firm concentration ratio. He called for the hearing in May 2026, and the Insurance Department planned to present evidence and call Mulready as one of two witnesses—facts that have become central to the arguments seeking his disqualification.
Months of Friction Before the Stay
The dispute did not emerge in a vacuum. Attorney General Gentner Drummond formally requested the competitiveness hearing in an April 17, 2026 letter, asserting state law required Mulready to hold the hearing or formally deny it within 30 days, and the Oklahoma Insurance Department scheduled the hearing for September 14, 2026, making the delay approximately five months, not four months. Prior to calling the September hearing, Mulready had denied an earlier April 2026 hearing request from Sullivan for lack of standing, while simultaneously declaring the market competitive before any evidence had been taken.
The Oklahoma Insurance Department cites 36 O.S. § 984 in describing the purpose of the hearing, according to the Oklahoma Insurance Department.
Rising Premiums, Deepening Distrust
The stakes for Oklahoma homeowners are steep as the state examines the structure and competitiveness of its insurance market.
What the broader market data shows
The Oklahoma Insurance Department reported that insurance premiums increased approximately 38.7% from January 2020 through December 2023, attributing part of the increase to inflation and higher materials and labor costs, according to the department's premium analysis. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners' Oklahoma profile for calendar year 2024 lists 1,553 licensed domestic and foreign insurers and says total direct premium written in the state increased 81% since 2015. Those figures cover Oklahoma's overall insurance market, not homeowners coverage alone, so they provide broader industry context rather than a direct measure of homeowners insurer participation.
Separately, Drummond filed an independent enforcement lawsuit in Cleveland County District Court in June 2026 against State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, alleging the insurer used a covert Hail Focus Initiative to systematically underpay wind and hail damage claims — litigation Hoodline has previously covered. In July 2026, Drummond also publicly demanded Mulready release a delayed market-conduct examination report on roof damage claims that the department had promised to release earlier in the year after two years of investigation, a dispute Hoodline detailed in its report on a NW OKC couple's lawsuit over the buried findings.
Critics of the state's current framework also point to regional comparisons, though the article does not detail them. For now, though, the competitiveness hearing itself remains frozen, with Miller having struck future hearing dates until the disqualification matter is resolved.
