Oklahoma Supreme Court

• Oklahoma Supreme Court
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Oklahoma Supreme Court
Court information
Justices:	9
Judicial selection
Method:	Comm. select., Gov. appt.
Term:	Initial term 1 year; if retained, 6 years
Active justices
James R. Winchester  •  James Edmondson  •  Yvonne Kauger  •  Joseph Watt  •  Tom Colbert  •  John Reif  •  Steven Taylor  •  Noma D. Gurich  •  Douglas L. Combs  •
Former justices

The Oklahoma Supreme Court was founded in 1907, and is the highest court in the state for civil matters.

Justices

The Oklahoma Supreme Court is a constitutional tribunal consisting of nine Justices. Each Justice is selected from one of nine judicial districts and sits for a six-year term.

The initial term in office for Supreme Court, Court of Criminal Appeals and Court of Appeals judges lasts one year; judges are then put up for a general election, and if retained, they serve a six year term. District Court judges serve an initial term of four years--if re-elected, they serve additional terms.

The current justices of the court are:

Judge	Term	Appointed by	Party
Justice James R. Winchester	2006-2016	Frank Keating
Justice James Edmondson	2003-2020	Brad Henry
Justice Yvonne Kauger	1984-2020	George Nigh
Justice Joseph Watt	1992-2014	David Walters
Chief Justice Tom Colbert	2004-2014	Brad Henry
Justice John Reif	2008-2014	Brad Henry
Justice Steven Taylor	2004-2016	Brad Henry
Justice Noma D. Gurich	2011-2020	Brad Henry
Justice Douglas L. Combs	2010-2020	Brad Henry

Jurisdiction

Oklahoma Court System Organizational Chart

"The Supreme Court is part of a co-equal, bifurcated judicial system in Oklahoma, under which it handles all civil matters, and the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals handles all criminal issues." The Supreme Court has the authority to "issue, hear and determine writs of habeas corpus, mandamus, quo warranto, certiorari, prohibition and such other remedial writs as may be provided by law and may exercise such other and further jurisdiction as may be conferred by statute."

Judicial selection

Article VII of the Oklahoma Constitution determines the selection process of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. The judge must submit their name to the Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission. In the event of a vacancy, the JNC submits three names to the Governor, who then appoints one to the court. The justice then serves until the next general election. If the Governor does not appoint a replacement within 60 days, the Chief Justice then takes the responsibility.

In the appellate and district courts

Merit Selection through Nominating Commission	Gubernatorial or Legislative Appointment without Nominating Commission	Partisan Election	Nonpartisan Election	Combined Merit Selection and Other Methods
Oklahoma Supreme Court, Court of Criminal Appeals, Court of Appeals	NA	NA	District Court	NA

Qualifications

Each Justice, at the time of their election or appointment, must be at least thirty years old, must be a registered voter in the Supreme Court Judicial district they represent for at least one year before filing for the position, and must be a licensed practicing attorney or judge (or both) in Oklahoma for five years before their appointment. The potential Justice must maintain their certification as an attorney or judge during their tenure in office in order to main their position.

Caseloads

The Tulsa World looked at eight years of Oklahoma Supreme Court filings, opinions and settlement conferences, and between 1999 and 2006, the total number of cases handled by the Supreme Court decreased 28 percent from 1,874 cases to 1,354. During that same time, the number of opinions also dropped. In 2006, the court rendered 99 opinions. The court has rendered as many as 250 opinions in one year, which was 2000.

Salaries

As of 2010, Associate Justices earn $137,655 annually, while the Chief Justice earns $147,000.

Notable decisions

History of the court

The Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City, which houses the Oklahoma Supreme Court

The court originated with five justices, but in 1917, four additional justices were appointed to deal with the increasing caseload.

Notable firsts

See also

• News: Chiropractors cheer Oklahoma Supreme Court decision, December 23, 2011

External links

• Oklahoma Supreme Court Official Site
• Oklahoma State Auditor report on the Oklahoma Supreme Court, 2004
• List of Decisions by Oklahoma Judge
• Judicial selection: Justices of the Oklahoma Supreme Court
• newsok.com, "Oklahoma's Supreme Court declines to hear DHS lawsuit settlement challenge," February 7, 2012

References

2012

To organize the columns, click on the arrows in the column heading.

Candidate	Incumbency	Party	Division	Primary Vote	Election Vote
CombDouglas L. Combs   A	Yes				A
EdmondsonJames Edmondson   A	Yes				A
GurichNoma D. Gurich   A	Yes				A
KaugerYvonne Kauger   A	Yes				A

2010

See also: 2010 State Supreme Court elections

Incumbent Steven Taylor faced retention and was retained.

Oklahoma Supreme Court 2010 General election results
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Steven Taylor		n/a	64.88%

2008

See also: State Supreme Court elections, 2008

John F. Reif faced retention and was retained.

Oklahoma Supreme Court 2008 General election results
Candidates		Votes	Percent
John F. Reif		n/a	63.2%

Tom Colbert faced retention and was retained.

Oklahoma Supreme Court 2008 General election results
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Tom Colbert		n/a	66.1%

Joseph M. Watt faced retention and was retained.

Oklahoma Supreme Court 2008 General election results
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Joseph M. Watt		n/a	63.7%