List of justices of the Oklahoma Supreme Court
Following is a list of justices of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. The court was established when Oklahoma achieved statehood in 1907, and was initially composed of five justices, with the state divided into a corresponding number of judicial districts.[1] In 1917, the court was expanded to nine justices, with the judicial districts being redrawn accordingly, and with the seats for the fourth and fives judicial districts being switched.[1]
Current membership
The justices of the Oklahoma Supreme Court are:
| Justice | District | Appointed | Governor | Law school | Birth city |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yvonne Kauger | 4th | 1984 | George Nigh | Oklahoma City University | Colony, Oklahoma |
| James R. Winchester | 5th | 2000 | Frank Keating | Oklahoma City University | Clinton, Oklahoma |
| James E. Edmondson | 7th | 2003 | Brad Henry | Georgetown University | Kansas City, Missouri |
| Doug Combs | 8th | 2010 | Brad Henry | Oklahoma City University | Shawnee, Oklahoma |
| Noma Gurich | 3rd | 2011 | Brad Henry | University of Oklahoma | South Bend, Indiana |
| Richard Darby | 9th | 2018 | Mary Fallin | University of Oklahoma | Altus, Oklahoma |
| Dustin Rowe | 2nd | 2019 | Kevin Stitt | University of Oklahoma | Ada, Oklahoma |
| M. John Kane IV | 1st | 2019 | Kevin Stitt | University of Oklahoma | Pawhuska, Oklahoma |
| Dana Kuehn | 6th | 2021 | Kevin Stitt | University of Tulsa | Owasso, Oklahoma |
List of former justices
| Judge | Began active service |
Ended active service |
District | Notes |
| John B. Turner | 1907 | 1918 | District 1 | |
| Robert L. Williams | 1907 | 1914 | District 2 | first Chief Justice (1908–1913); Resigned 3-10-1914; Later third Governor of Oklahoma |
| Matthew John Kane | 1908 | 1923 | District 3 | Chief Justice 1909–12; died January 2, 1924 |
| Jesse James Dunn | 1907 | 1913 | District 4 | Resigned September 1, 1913 |
| Samuel W. Hayes | 1907 | 1914 | District 5 | Resigned April 7, 1914. |
| Robert H. Loofbourrow | 1913 | 1915 | District 4 | Appointed September 1, 1913 |
| Stillwell H. Russell | 1914 | 1914 | District 2 | died May 16, 1914 |
| W.R. Bleakmore | 1914 | 1914 | District 2 | appointed May 26, 1914 |
| Summers T. Hardy | 1914 | 1919 | District 2 | Elected to an unexpired term; resigned May 1, 1919 |
| J. F. Sharp | 1914 | 1919 | District 4/5[2] | resigned October 1, 1919 |
| F. E. Riddle | 1914 | 1914 | District 5 | Appointed April 7, 1914 |
| G. A. Brown | 1914 | 1915 | District 5 | Died October 25, 1915 |
| Charles M. Thacker | 1915 | 1918 | District 5/4[3] | Appointed November 2, 1915; died February 17, 1918 |
| J. H. Miley | 1917 | 1918 | District 6 | Appointed March 31, 1917 |
Thomas H. Owen |
1917 | 1920 | District 7 | Appointed March 31, 1917, elected 1918, resigned May 1, 1920 |
| Robert M. Rainey | 1917 | 1920 | District 8 | Appointed March 31, 1917; Chief Justice 1920–21 |
| Rutherford Brett | 1917 | 1918 | District 9 | Appointed March 31, 1917. |
| John H. Pitchford | 1918 | 1923 | District 1 | Died March 2, 1923 |
| B. L. Tisinger | 1918 | 1918 | District 4 | appointed March 5, 1918 |
| John B. Harrison | 1918 | 1928 | District 4 | |
| Neil E. McNeil | 1918 | 1924 | District 6 | |
| Frank M. Bailey | 1919 | 1920 | District 5 | Appointed October 1, 1919 |
| John T. Johnson | 1919 | 1925 | District 9 | Chief Justice 1923 & 1925; presided over impeachment of Governor Walton in 1922 |
| R. W. Higgins | 1919 | 1920 | District 2 | Appointed May 7, 1919 |
| Franklin Elmore Kennamer | 1920 | 1924 | District 8 | Appointed to Oklahoma Supreme Court in 1920. Resigned April 1, 1924 to become Federal Judge for Northern District of Oklahoma |
| C. H. Elting | 1920 | 1922 | District 2 | Died December 3, 1922 |
| George M. Nicholson | 1920 | 1926 | District 5 | Chief Justice 1925–27 |
| George S. Ramsey | 1920 | 1920 | District 7 | Appointed May 1, 1920; resigned November 5, 1920 |
| John R. Miller | 1920 | 1922 | District 7 | Elected to an unexpired term |
| William A. Collier | 1920 | 1920 | District 7 | Appointed November 5, 1920 |
| Fred P. Branson | 1922 | 1929 | District 7 | Chief Justice 1927–29 |
| Charles B. Cochrane | 1922 | 1924 | District 2 | Appointed December 6, 1922; resigned May 1, 1924 |
| Charles W. Mason | 1923 | 1931 | District 1 | Appointed; Chief Justice 1929–31 |
| J. D. Lydick | 1924 | 1924 | District 3 | Appointed January 7, 1924 |
| Frank L. Warren | 1924 | 1924 | District 8 | Appointed April 1, 1924 |
| Eugene Lester | 1924 | 1931 | District 2 | Elected to an unexpired term; Chief Justice, 1931 |
| Albert C. Hunt | 1924 1955 |
1931 1956 |
District 6 District 3 |
Elected to Supreme Court in 1924 Appointed October 14, 1955 to replace the late Justice Ben Arnold; died August 26, 1956 |
Fletcher S. Riley |
1924 | 1948 | District 9 | |
| James H. Gordon | 1924 | 1932 | District 2 | Appointed May 1, 1924. |
| James I. Phelps | 1925–29 | 1935 | District 3 | Elected to an unexpired term |
| James Waddey Clark | 1925 | 1933 | District 8 | |
| Robert A. Hefner | 1926 | 1932 | District 5 | |
| James B. Cullison | 1928 | 1934 | District 3 | |
| Charles Swindall | 1928 | 1934 | District 4 | |
| James B. Cullison | 1929 | 1931 | District 3 | |
| Thomas G. Andrews | 1929 | 1935 | District 7 | |
| J. H. Langley | 1930 1933 |
1931 1934 |
District 1 | Resigned after serving 1 month in first term; won election in 1933 |
| W. H. Kornegay | 1931 | 1932 | District 1 | Appointed February 2, 1931 |
| Edwin R. McNeill | 1931 | 1937 | District 6 | Chief Justice 1936–37 |
| J. H. Langley | 1931 | 1931 | District 1 | Resigned February 2, 1931 |
| Samuel Earl Welch | 1932 | 1965 | District 2 | Resigned in 1965 |
| Wayne W. Bayless | 1932 | 1948 | District 1 | Elected to an unexpired term of J. H. Langley |
| Monroe Osborn | 1932 | 1947 | District 5 | Died June 20, 1947 |
| Orel Busby | 1932 | 1937 | District 8 | Resigned August 7, 1937 |
| N. S. Corn | 1934 | 1958 | District 4 | Impeached; convicted of bribery and sent to prison |
| Thomas L. Gibson | 1934 | 1952 | District 7 | |
| Denver Davison | 1937 | 1978 | District 8 | Appointed August 7, 1937, replacing Justice Orel Busby; retired August 8, 1978, replaced by Justice Douglas Combs; |
| Harris L. Danner | 1938 | 1940 | District 3 | Appointed December 1, 1938, resigned October 10, 1940 |
| Sam Neff | 1940 | 1956 | District 3 | Appointed October 10, 1940 |
| Ben Arnold | 1941 | 1953 | District 3 | Chief Justice 1951–1953; died September 30, 1955 |
| John E. Luttrell | 1947 | 1951 | District 5 | Appointed July 1, 1947; resigned August 13, 1951 |
| Napoleon B. Johnson | 1948 | 1965 | District 1 | Impeached by a Special Court of Impeachment, May 13, 1965; replaced by Judge Robert E. Lavender. |
| Harry L. S. Halley | 1948 | 1966 | District 6 | |
| George Bingaman | 1951 | 1952 | District 5 | Appointed August 13, 1951 |
| W. H. Blackbird | 1952 | 1972 | District 7 | Retired December 1, 1971 |
| Ben T. Williams | 1952 | 1982 | District 5 | Appointed in 1952; died in office January 11, 1982. Served 2 terms as |
| Floyd L. Jackson | 1954 | 1973 | District 9 | Retired January 8, 1973 |
| W. A. Carlile | 1956 | 1958 | District 3 | Appointed September 17, 1956 |
| William A. Berry | 1958 | 1978 | District 3 | Resigned November 20, 1978 |
| Pat Irwin (Oklahoma judge) | 1958 | 1983 | District 4 | Chief Justice (1969–70) and (1981–82); Retired December 1983; appointed Magistrate of U.S. District Court for Western Oklahoma (1983–1991); died in Edmond, OK; 1993 |
| Ralph B. Hodges | 1965 | 2004 | District 2 | Appointed April 20, 1965; Chief Justice 1977–1978 and 1993–1994 (2 terms) |
| Robert E. Lavender | 1965 | 2007 | District 1 | Chief Justice 1979 – 1981 Retired from Court in 2007; replaced by Justice John F. Reif; |
| Rooney McInerney | 1966 | 1972 | District 6 | Resigned September 1, 1972; replaced by Judge Robert D. Simms. |
| Don Barnes | 1972 | 1985 | District 7 | Appointed January 4, 1972; retired January 1985 |
| Robert D. Simms | 1972 | 1999 | District 6 | Appointed October 2, 1972; Chief Justice 1985 – 1986 |
| John B. Doolin | 1973 | 1992 | District 9 | Appointed January 8, 1973, replacing Justice Floyd L. Jackson; served as chief justice 1987-8; retired May 1, 1992 |
| Marian P. Opala | 1978 | 2010 | District 3 | Appointed November 21, 1978; Chief Justice 1991–1992; died in office October 10, 2010 |
| Rudolph Hargrave | 1978 | 2010 | District 8 | Appointed October 10, 1978, replacing Justice Davison; Chief Justice 1979 – 1981; retired effective December 31, 2010; Replaced by Douglas L. Combs |
| Alma Wilson | 1982 | 1999 | District 5 | Appointed February 9, 1982; Chief Justice 1995–1997 |
| Hardy Summers | 1985 | 2003 | District 7 | Appointed February 1, 1985, replacing Justice Don Barnes; Chief Justice 1999–2000 |
| Joseph M. Watt | 1992 | 2017 | District 9 | Appointed June 1, 1992; Chief Justice 2003–2007; replaced by Judge Richard Darby in April, 2018 |
| Daniel J. Boudreau | 1999 | 2004 | District 6 | Resigned after serving 5 years to teach law at University of Tulsa law school[4] |
| Steven W. Taylor | 2004 | 2016 | District 2 | Chief Justice 2011–2013 |
| Tom Colbert | 2004 | 2021 | District 6 | Chief Justice 2013–2015 |
| John F. Reif | 2007 | 2019 | District 1 | Chief Justice 2015–2016; retired in April 2019 |
| Patrick Wyrick | 2017 | 2019 | District 2 | Appointed February 9, 2017, Resigned to become federal judge on April 10, 2019 |
Table
Justices of the Oklahoma Territory Supreme Court
- Edward B. Green, Chief Justice (1890–1893)
- John G. Clark, Associate Justice (1890–1903), Chief Justice
- Abraham Jefferson Seay 1890–92
- John H. Burford 1892–1906, Chief Justice 1898–1903
- A.G.C. Bierer1894–98
- John L. McAtee 1898–1902
- Henry W. Scott (judge)(1892–1896), Chief Justice 1895–1896
- James R. Keaton 1896–98
- John C. Tarsney 1896–99
- Frank Dale 1893–1898
- Bayard T. Hainer 1898–1907
- Clinton F. Irwin 1899–1907
- Joseph A. Gill 1899 – 1907
- J. L. Pancoast 1902–1907
- Milton C. Garber 1906–07
- James K. Beauchamp 1902–1906
- Frank E. Gillette 1902–1907
References
- ^ a b "Oklahoma History", Oklahoma Almanac (July 23, 2012), p. 788.
- ^ District number changed from District No. 4 to District No. 5 in 1917.
- ^ District number changed from District No. 5 to District No. 4 in 1917.
- ^ Snyder, Carmel Perez (July 12, 2004). "High court resignations trigger selection process: After a scandal in the '60s, nominations come from a nonpartisan commission". The Oklahoman. Retrieved April 29, 2004.