A 46-year-old Oklahoma state representative and MAGA supporter will not face jail time for a series of domestic violence incidents, including attempting to gouge out his wife’s eye and running his wife and their 16-year-old daughter off the road.
Republican Rep. Ty Burns received a one-year suspended sentence from Pawnee County District Judge Patrick Pickerill last week after pleading guilty to one misdemeanor count of domestic abuse and two misdemeanor counts of assault, according to authorities. Burns will also be required to complete a batterers intervention program as part of his sentence.
“These are serious charges,” Attorney General Gentner Drummond stated. “While there is no excuse for domestic violence, I am encouraged that the representative accepted responsibility for his actions and will receive counseling as part of his sentence. Domestic violence is unfortunately far too common in our state. “It must stop.”
The attorney general’s office took over the cases against Burns, which were filed in November 2024 and April 2025 after Pawnee County District Attorney Mike Fisher recused his office from prosecuting Burns.
After formally pleading guilty to the criminal charges, Burns resigned from the legislature on October 1.
“It is in the best interest of the people I serve in House District 35 and, most importantly, my family to step down from my position,” according to a statement he issued. “I accept full responsibility for my actions and intend to seek counseling with my family. Although this is not an excuse for my actions, I am receiving intensive treatment for issues related to my military service that I had previously ignored as a problem.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime, Burns and his wife had an argument on April 24 that culminated in him showing up at a home in Morrison, a city about 80 miles northeast of Oklahoma City, where at least two young children were present, and being “verbally abusive” to [his wife] and “pushing her around.” The couple’s 16-year-old daughter was also present, along with another adult female.
When the other female attempted to leave the house with the children in her van, police said Burns “came storming out of nowhere” and “started shaking the van and pushing it and also opened and slammed the doors.”
“Ty [Burns] began screaming at [redacted], ‘Get the f— out of here.'” I absolutely despise you. “You are the cause of all these problems,” the affidavit says. [Burns] told [redacted] to leave and that she would be sorry if she stayed. [Redacted] believed [Burns] was going to hurt her.”
When the van drove away, authorities claim Burns “then got in his big truck and started chasing.” According to the affidavit, he came “really close to the van” and then “got to the side of the van and tried to make [redacted] weave off the road.” Burns was finally able to overtake the van and stop in the road, preventing it from moving forward and demanding his daughter get out.
“I’m going to make sure you go down,” he screamed, according to the affidavit. “I’m going to kill you.”
In a recording of the incident from inside the van, one of the occupants can be heard saying, “He is literally following us in the truck, chasing us, and he is literally about to kill us.”
The van’s driver claimed she injured her back and hit her head when Burns “ran them off the road and they hit a ditch.”
During the investigation, Burns’ wife informed investigators about a separate incident that occurred on Thanksgiving 2024. She claimed Burns “got mad at her” after she “made plans to do something with a friend.” According to the affidavit, after telling Burns that he was “too controlling,” and that she was going with her friends anyway, he attacked her.
“[Burns] followed [his wife] into the bathroom,” the document states. “[Burns] pointed at [his wife] and attempted to gouge her eye out with his finger. [Burns] damaged a blood vessel in [his wife’s] eye. She was unable to work for the next week due to an eye injury. [A family friend] confirmed seeing [Burns’ wife] with an injury to her eye.”
