Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals

Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals
Court information
Judges:	12
Judicial selection
Method:	Commission-selection, political appointment
Term:	6 years
Active judges
Bay Mitchell  •  Keith Rapp  •  Jerry Goodman  •  John Fischer  •  Robert D. Bell  •  Kenneth Buettner  •  Larry Joplin  •  Jane Wiseman  •  Deborah Barnes  •  William Hetherington  •  Brian Goree  •

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The Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals is an intermediate appellate court in the state of Oklahoma, with the Oklahoma Supreme Court as the final court of recourse for civil matters. The Court of Civil Appeals consists of twelve judges in four divisions. The Supreme Court may choose to release the lesser court's opinions for publication, which grants these cases precedent value.

2012 election

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

Candidate	Incumbency	Party	Division	Primary Vote	Election Vote
MitchellBay Mitchell   A	Yes		Division 1		A
BuettnerKenneth Buettner   A	Yes				A
ThornbrughP. Thomas Thornbrugh   A	Yes				A
BellRobert D. Bell   A	Yes				A
HetheringtonWilliam Hetherington   A	Yes				A

Judges

Judge	Term	Division	Appointed by	Party
Judge Bay Mitchell	2002-2018	Division 1	Gov. Francis Keating
Judge Keith Rapp	1984-2014
Judge Jerry Goodman	1994-2014	Division 4
Judge John Fischer	2007-2016
Judge Robert D. Bell	2005-2018		Gov. Brad Henry
Chief Judge Kenneth Buettner	1996-2018		Gov. Frank Keating
Judge Larry Joplin	1994-2016	Division 3
Judge Jane Wiseman	2005-2012		Gov. Brad Henry
Judge Deborah Barnes	2008-2016		Gov. Brad Henry
Judge William Hetherington	2009-2018		Gov. Brad Henry
Judge Brian Goree	2012-present		Mary Fallin

History

The state created the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals because the Oklahoma Supreme Court had neither the time nor resources to hear all cases brought before it. When a case is brought before it, the Supreme Court may choose to send the case to one of the four division of the Court of Civil Appeals, two located in Tulsa and two in Oklahoma City. Each division of the court has three judges, appointed for life, but must stand for election every six years to retain their positions.

Jurisdiction

The Court of Civil Appeals is responsible for the majority of appellate decisions. These opinions may be released for publication either by the Court of Civil Appeals or by the Supreme Court. When the opinions are released for publication by the Supreme Court, they have precedential value. The Court of Civil Appeals is made up of four divisions, each composed of three Judges. Two divisions of the Court of Civil Appeals are located in Oklahoma City and two are housed in Tulsa. Two of the three judges may choose to reaffirm, modify, or overturn any ruling of any lower court. However, if the Oklahoma Supreme Court disapproves of the courts ruling, it may review the decision as change it as the Court demeans necessary. Cases are assigned to the Court of Civil Appeals from the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

Judicial selection

Members of the Court of Civil Appeal are appointed by the current governor of Oklahoma from a list of three names submitted by the Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission.

See also

• Oklahoma Supreme Court
• Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission

External links

• Oklahoma Civil Court of Appeals Homepage
• List of Decisions by Oklahoma Judge

References