Jack Calloway Walton was sworn in as the fifth governor of Oklahoma on January 09, 1923.  Jack Walton had been the Mayor of the City of Oklahoma City from 1919 until 1923.  During his time as Mayor, he gave out “courtesy cards” to his followers, who in turn provided free labor to his cause.  These “courtesy cards” gave the bearer all the courtesies of a law enforcement official.  In effect, these cards exempted Walton’s supporters from police regulations.  Walton used this same idea when he took office as the governor of the State of Oklahoma in 1923 and formed his Oklahoma Secret Service. Instead of issuing courtesy cards, Walton gave badges and a commission as a secret service agent. 

 

     Around April 15, 1923, Walton’s Secret Service was formed.  The governor’s secretary began sending out commissions to Walton’s supporters from his campaign as governor.  Walton was given a budget for the newly formed agency but only a few of the several hundred commissioned agents were paid; the remainder of them worked for free.  Walton said the force would consist of no more than two hundred experienced law enforcers.  The newly commissioned agents were issued a small badge that was gold in color and measured 2 ¼ inches.  The badge was adorned by “Leo the Lion” and was made by Letzeiser Jewelry Company of Oklahoma City.  The name “Leo the Lion” was given to the Oklahoma City Police Department badge, also adorned with a lion, when it was first designed by a friend of Walton’s when Walton was the Oklahoma City Mayor.  

 

     In May 1923, Walton appointed Charles McCloud, a detective for the previous administration, as the head of the agency.  Several former Oklahoma City police officers were also commissioned by Walton.  One of the more famous Oklahoma lawmen commissioned as an agent was Buck Garrett.  Garrett was the former Chief of Police for the city of Ardmore, Oklahoma and former Carter County Sheriff for 5 terms.  Garrett was Walton’s first choice to head a newly formed constabulary agency but chose McCloud when the Oklahoma legislature refused to fund Walton’s original idea. 

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     During Walton’s 1923 election campaign, he ran on a platform of eliminating illegal liquor operations in the State of Oklahoma.  Walton would soon dispatch his secret service force throughout the state to accomplish his campaign promise.  Walton felt that if local law enforcement officials could not accomplish this mission, his men would.  As a result of enforcing existing liquor laws, agents made arrests of individuals for illegal gambling, prostitution and other vices and lawlessness.  Secret Service Agents even arrested the Chief of Police of South Coffeyville, Oklahoma for alcohol and gambling violations.  

 

     During Walton’s short-lived time as Governor, he managed to draw the ire of the Ku Klux Klan which led to their long feud.  Walton dispatched his secret service agents around the state to investigator whipping parties and floggings by the Klan.  Walton believed the KKK dominated local authorities and members were never prosecuted for the crimes they committed.  Walton insisted that “The Power of the Ku Klux Klan in Oklahoma must be broken”.

 

     In June, as Governor Walton’s Secret Service grew, citizens and political figures began to criticize the agency.  One of the criticisms, from the political side, was the way Walton commissioned his friends and gave them authority as law enforcement officials.  They also criticized his spending on the agency, claiming he was paying his friends outrageous salaries.  Soon there was talk about removing Walton from office.   

 

     As Walton’s secret service became more known throughout the state, tension between local law enforcement and the agents grew.  Several of the agents were arrested by local law enforcement for carrying weapons, being intoxicated, and committing other crimes.  Some local law enforcement leaders sent letters to Governor Walton, telling him to keep his secret service out of their communities.

   

     In September, Secretary of State R. A. Sneed said that he would no longer sign secret service commissions unless they were filed in his office. When Walton heard this, he was said to have ordered 5,000 blank commissions to keep in his office and hand out himself.  In October, State Auditor C. C. Childers suspended pay to the secret service force until they could prove they had earned their pay.

 

     On October 02, 1923, Oklahoma State Attorney General Short gave an official opinion concerning the secret service appointments made by Walton.  Attorney General Short deemed the appointments to be illegal and Walton had no authority to make them.  Short claimed that a number of appointments were to thieves, crooks, gunmen, ex-convicts and criminals.     

  

     On October 17, when impeachment charges could be organized, the Oklahoma House of Representatives brought twenty-two charges against Walton and voted for impeachment.  On October 23, Walton was suspended from his office as Governor and Lieutenant Governor Martin E. Trapp became acting Governor. Of the House's twenty-two charges, eleven were sustained, including "illegal collection of campaign funds, padding the public payroll, suspension of habeas corpus, excessive use of the pardon power, and general incompetence”.  On November 19, 1923, Walton was convicted and removed from office. Lieutenant Governor Trapp took control as Governor.

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     On November 21, 1923, Governor M. E. Trapp revoked the commissions of Walton’s secret service force ending the existence of “Walton’s gunmen”.   In January 1925, Governor Trapp expressed his need for another secret service organization and eventually had his own law enforcement force within the office of the Governor.

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     Jack Walton continued his political career, unsuccessfully campaigning over the years for governor, county sheriff, and mayor of Oklahoma City.  He did win the election for corporation commissioner in 1932.  This was the last office he would hold.  Jack Calloway Walton passed away on November 25, 1949 and is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.