Kuykendall's wife, Evelyn Knisely, is a doctor of pharmacy. The couple's daughter, Monica, 18, is a student at OU.

As a longtime Norman citizen and Cleveland County resident, Greg Mashburn, 34, of Norman, said he’s “concerned about the safety of the community and the direction in which we’re headed.”

For the past eight years, Mashburn, 34, has served as assistant district attorney to Wes Lane in Oklahoma County, prosecuting cases ranging from white collar crimes to high-profile homicides, he said.

Mashburn said his main concern is “making sure the DA’s office in this district is successful prosecuting cases that will ensure our community remains the safe, successful community it’s been in the past.”

“Violent crime is up 20 percent in Norman,” he said. “I want to make sure my prosecutors are trying the right kinds of cases and are able to successfully prosecute those cases.”

Whether the outcome involves prison or community programs, Mashburn said it’s imperative the underlying behavior is altered so that criminals are not apt to commit crimes again.

“Whatever it takes to make sure that they don’t victimize anyone else,” he said.

Mashburn said the DA’s office “currently is winning only 34 percent of jury trials.”

“And they haven’t won a sex crime jury trial since 2002, having lost eight trials in a row involving sex offender cases,” he said. “What I see happening, either they’re prosecuting a lot of innocent people, or they’re prosecuting guilty people who are getting put back into our community.

“When that starts happening, the defendants are put in the driver’s seat on what happens with their cases. They can say, ‘Give me the deal I want or I’ll take it to jury trial where I have a two out of three chance of winning,’” Mashburn said.

As a result, sex offenders and violent repeat offenders are getting sentences they shouldn’t receive, Mashburn said.

“That’s why the crime rate is going up so much,” he said.

Mashburn said he thinks Tim Kuykendall is a nice person.

“I’m not throwing stones at him personally,” he said. “As a citizen concerned about the safety of the community and where we’re headed, I think it’s imperative we have a change in leadership in the DA’s office, for the good of the growing community.”