Oklahoma voters could make history on November 6 if they reject any of the statewide judges who will be on the ballot for retention votes.

No judge has ever not been retained on these votes.

The governor appoints Oklahoma Supreme Court justices. Three of the sitting justices were picked by Republican governors Frank Keating (one) and Mary Fallin (two) while the other six were nominated by Democrat governors Brad Henry (five) and George Nigh (one).

Four justices from that court will be on the ballot, with two Henry nominees, one Nigh nominee and one Fallin nominee.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court has generated controversies by denying the right to post a Ten Commandments monument on public property and several cases promoting legalized abortion. The justices voted to kill an initiative petition that would have overturned the largest tax increase in state history because they didn’t like the language of the petition.

Here is some biographical information on the judges who will be on the ballot from the Oklahoma Supreme Court, the Court of Criminal Appeals and the Court of Civil Appeals.

Oklahoma Supreme Court

Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice James Edmondson, the brother of liberal Democrat gubernatorial candidate Drew Edmondson, was appointed by liberal Democrat Gov. Brad Henry in 2003 and was retained in 2006 and 2012.

James Edmondson is the son of Ed Edmondson, a former U.S. congressman, and June Edmondson; and a nephew of former U.S. senator and Oklahoma Governor J. Howard Edmondson.

Edmondson received his B.A. from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah in 1967 and his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1973. 

Judge Edmondson’s daughter, Sarah Edmondson, was released on parole in 2010 following 12 years in prison for her role in a 1995 murder and robbery in Mississippi, as well as a robbery and attempted murder in Louisiana. When the crime was committed, she and her boyfriend/accomplice, Benjamin Darras, were 18. She testified they were on hallucinogenic drugs and repeatedly watched the movie Natural Born Killers about a similar killing spree.

Judge Edmondson and his wife were named as co-defendants in a lawsuit filed by the attempted murder victim, because they owned the gun allegedly used in the attack. The court ruled in Edmondson’s favor, finding that the plaintiffs “failed to prove that James and Suzanne Edmondson’s contacts with this state were of a continuous, systematic, and substantial nature that would satisfy the minimum contacts requirement of due process.”

Justice Edmondson formerly was a private attorney, acting and assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Oklahoma and assistant district attorney in Muskogee County.

Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Patrick Wyrick appointed by Republican Gov. Mary Fallin in 2017 to succeed retiring Justice Steven Taylor.

Wyrick was included on President Donald Trump’s June 2018 list of 25 potential Supreme Court nominees to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the court. Trump first released that list during his 2016 presidential campaign and stated that “This list is definitive and I will choose only from it in picking future Justices of the United States Supreme Court.” Trump ultimately chose Brett Kavanaugh as the nominee to replace Kennedy.

On April 11, 2018, Trump nominated Wyrick to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. His nomination was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee and he awaits a vote by the full U.S. Senate. If he is approved, the governor would nominate a replacement from a list of five candidates supplied by a nominating committee and that nominee would have to be approved by the Oklahoma Senate, which convenes in February.

Wyrick previously served as the solicitor general of Oklahoma from 2011-2017.

Wyrick received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Oklahoma and his J.D. from the University of Oklahoma College of Law.

The ACLU filed a lawsuit against Wyrick in 2017 alleging he did not meet the residency requirements for a Supreme Court justice. In March of 2017, the Supreme Court dismissed the suit, calling the suit “a collateral attack by a private individual.”

Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Yvonne Kauger was appointed by Democrat Gov. George Nigh in 1984.

Kauger graduated from Southwestern Oklahoma State University in 1958 and received her J.D. from the Oklahoma City University School of Law in 1969.

Prior to her appointment to the Oklahoma Supreme Court in 1984, Kauger served as presiding judge on the Oklahoma Court of the Judiciary. She also served as symposium coordinator for The Sovereignty Symposium, founded the Gallery of the Plains Indian in Colony, and co-founded Red Earth. She is an honorary member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. She has an honorary doctorate from Oklahoma City University.

Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Noma D. Gurich appointed by liberal Democrat Gov. Brad Henry in 2011 to succeed the late Justice Marian Opala. She was retained in 2012.

Gurich received her undergraduate degree from Indiana State University in 1975 and her J.D. from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1978.

Gurich formerly was an associate at the law firm of Cheek, Cheek & Cheek and was a partner at Abowitz & Welch. For 10 years, she was a judge in the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Court and she was a judge in Oklahoma District 7 before joining the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals

Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Scott Rowland was appointed by Republican Gov. Mary Fallin in 2017 to succeed former Judge Arlene Johnson.

Rowland received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Oklahoma and his J.D. from the Oklahoma City University School of Law.

Rowland served as the first assistant district attorney in Oklahoma County for almost 11 years. He also served as general counsel to the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control and as assistant attorney general for the state of Oklahoma. He became an adjunct instructor of criminal and constitutional law at Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma City in 1998.

Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals Judge David B. Lewis was appointed by Democrat Gov. Brad Henry in 2005 and was retained in 2006 and 2012.

Lewis received his undergraduate degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1980 and his J.D. from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1983.

Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Dana Kuehn was appointed by Republican Gov. Mary Fallin in 2017 to replace former Judge Clancy Smith.

Kuehn was formerly an Oklahoma associate judge for Tulsa County in District 14. She was re-elected in 2014 after running unopposed.

Kuehn received a B.S. in political science from Oklahoma State University, and a J.D. from the University of Tulsa College of Law.

After graduating from law school, Kuehn worked as an assistant district attorney for nearly a decade. She is also adjunct professor at The University of Tulsa.

Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals

Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals Judge E. Bay Mitchell was appointed by Republican Gov. Frank Keating in 2002 and he was retained in 2012. Mitchell received his bachelor’s degree from The University of Oklahoma in 1976 and his J.D. degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1979.

After law school in 1979, Mitchell began his legal career as an attorney in private practice. In 1993, he became a staff attorney for Judge Carl Jones of the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals. He worked in this capacity until he was appointed to the court in 2002.

Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals Judge Robert D. Bell was appointed by Democrat Gov. Brad Henry in 2005 and retained in 2006 and 2012.

Bell received his bachelor’s degree from The University of Oklahoma in 1989 and his J.D. from The University of Tulsa College of Law in 1992. Bell later earned an LL.M. from the Duke University School of Law.

For thirteen years, Judge Bell was in private practice in Norman. During that time, he served as municipal judge for the cities of Moore, Purcell, Blanchard, Noble, and Broken Arrow.

Since 1998, he has served as adjunct professor at The University of Oklahoma College of Law. He was appointed judge on the court of civil appeals in June 2005.

Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals Judge Kenneth Buettner was appointed by Republican Gov. Frank Keating in 1996 and retained in 1998, 2006 and 2012.

Buettner received his bachelor’s degree from Texas Christian University in 1972 and his J.D. from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law in 1975.

In 1980, Buettner worked with a major Oklahoma City law firm and practiced in general litigation until his appointment to the bench in 1996.

Since 2002, he has been a member of the executive board of the Oklahoma Judicial Conference, and in 2005 he served as its president.

From 1976 to 1980, Buettner served with the United States Air Force JAG Corps.

Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals Judge Barbara G. Swinton was appointed by Republican Gov. Mary Fallin in 2016 to replace Judge William Heterhington.

Swinton was previously an Oklahoma district court judge for Oklahoma County in District Seven.  She joined the court in 1996 as a special judge and was elected as a district judge in 2002. She was re-elected in 2014 after running unopposed.

Swinton received her bachelor’s degree in political science from Oklahoma State University in 1982 and her J.D. from Georgia State University College of Law in 1991.

Swinton served as a special judge from 1996 to 2002 and was elected as a district judge in 2002. She also teaches trial practice and pretrial litigation as an adjunct professor at The Oklahoma City University School of Law.

November 6 Retention Ballot

Supreme Court Justices

• James Edmondson (appointed by Democrat Gov. Brad Henry)
• Noma Gurich (appointed by Democrat Gov. Brad Henry)
• Yvonne Kager (appointed by Democrat Gov. George Nigh)
• Patrick Wyrick (appointed by Republican Mary Fallin)

Court of Criminal Appeals

• David Lewis (appointed by Democrat Gov. Brad Henry)
• Scott Rowland (appointed by Republican Gov. Mary Fallin)
• Dana Kuehn (appointed by Republican Gov. Mary Fallin)

Court of Civil Appeals

• Robert Bell (appointed by Democrat Gov. Brad Henry)
• E. Bay Mitchell (appointed by Republican Gov. Frank Keating)
• Kenneth Buettner (appointed by Republican Gov. Frank Keating)
• Barbara G. Swinton (appointed by Republican Gov. Mary Fallin)