TULSA — Without state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters present, a Tulsa County judge heard arguments for dismissing a defamation lawsuit filed against Walters by the superintendent of one of Oklahoma’s fastest-growing school districts.

Attorneys for Bixby Public Schools Superintendent Rob Miller say Walters knew or should have known he wasn’t telling the truth when he called Miller “a clown and a liar” and said Miller’s district was under investigation for financial irregularities. Two days before he made those comments during a news conference, Walters signed a document affirming the good standing of every school in Bixby County, Miller’s attorneys said.

But Walters’ lawyers countered by arguing that the lawsuit should be dismissed, citing both the principle of sovereign immunity – which holds that official acts of the state are immune from lawsuit – and their belief in Miller, who, like Walters In a legal dispute as a public figure, Walters has not proven that he displayed “actual malice” in making this statement.