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. 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.
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 | 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 | 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 |
| 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. Bierer 1894–98
- 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
- ^ "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.