Tulsa County Commissioner Ron Peters Announces Plan to Retire in January

Tulsa County Commissioner Ron Peters has announced his plans to retire. Peters, a longtime public servant as County Commissioner and former Oklahoma State Representative, plans to resign from the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) office in mid-January. 

“It’s been a great honor to serve Tulsa County residents these many years,” Peters said. “Between my career as a business owner, then in the Oklahoma House of Representatives and these past eight years at Tulsa County, I’m looking forward to spending more time with my family, while playing some golf.”

Peters named District 3 Deputy Commissioner Vicki Adams as acting Commissioner to serve out the remainder of his term, which continues through 2022. Adams has served as deputy commissioner since 2013.

“Commissioner Peters is a true statesman who has worked tirelessly to improve the lives of Tulsa County residents,” Adams said. “We’ve worked together for more than 31 years, but these past eight years have been the most gratifying as we pushed Tulsa County government toward success. I’m honored and deeply grateful for his trust to continue his legacy of service.”

Peters served as an Oklahoma state representative for 12 years before running for Tulsa County commissioner. Before his public service work, Peters was co-owner of a public relations firm. Prior to that he worked for Cities Service Oil and Gas and later for Occidental Petroleum Corp., where he directed government and public affairs efforts.

“Among my proudest achievements are investments and improvements at Expo Square and the Tulsa County Fairgrounds to ensure it’s as productive for Tulsa County in 2050 as it was in 1950. Another is LaFortune Park, which continues to be among the best all-around parks in the nation. We’ve also led legislative efforts to modernize laws that establish county government in Oklahoma, which hasn’t seen many updates since statehood.

“During these last eight years, our focus was on modernizing and restructuring county government,” Peters said. “When we got here, the answer to a lot of questions was, ‘We’ve always done it that way.’ We started challenging that notion from day one, and I’m very proud of Tulsa County’s progress.”

Tulsa Regional Chamber on Commissioner Peters’ Retirement

Courtesy Mike Neal
TRC President and CEO

All of us at the Tulsa Regional Chamber congratulate Commissioner Ron Peters on his retirement. He has served the public well in many capacities, and we thank him for his many years of service to the Oklahoma House of Representatives and the Tulsa County Commission. He has been instrumental in so much of what the chamber does, from advocacy to economic development to tourism. 

He was one of two state legislators who suggested we create what became the OneVoice Regional Legislative Agenda. He also suggested that we travel to the state capitol and the U.S. Capitol to personally advocate for public-private priorities, which we now do regularly. 

In support of the chamber-led Tulsa’s Future regional economic partnership, Commissioner Peters was part of multiple company recruitment efforts, including Macy’s and Milo’s Tea, as well as the Whirlpool expansion. 
Commissioner Peters was also instrumental in the facility upgrades to Expo Square, as well as development of the LaFortune Park Tennis Center to be one of the nation’s best facilities.

Most recently, he helped provide CARES and ARPA funding to support the pandemic recovery work of Tulsa Regional Tourism and the Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture. 

He has always been a reliable, thoughtful and pragmatic public servant who cares deeply for his colleagues, constituents and our entire community. We wish him all the best as he begins this new chapter of his life.