Justice Noma Diane Gurich was appointed to the Supreme Court, District 3 on January 7, 2011. She took office on February 15, 2011. She is the third woman justice to serve on the Supreme Court of Oklahoma since statehood.  Justice Gurich served as Chief Justice from January 1, 2019, through December 31, 2020.  She served as Vice Chief Justice from December of 2016 until December 31, 2018. 

Justice Gurich was born in South Bend, Indiana. Although a Hoosier by birth, she is a resident of Oklahoma by choice. Justice Gurich’s great-grandparents settled near Gracemont, Oklahoma in the early 1900’s. Her grandmother and grandfather were married on December 24, 1906, in Anadarko. Her mother was born in Anadarko in 1921, attended Oklahoma College for Women, and moved to Indiana in 1945 with her husband, a returning veteran of World War II.  

Justice Gurich is a 1971 honors graduate of Penn High School in Mishawaka, Indiana. In 2012, she was honored as a Distinguished Alumni of her high school. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana in 1975 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and a minor in History. Justice Gurich is a life member of the Indiana State University Alumni Association. In October of 2012, she was honored as a Distinguished Alumni of Indiana State. In 1978, Justice Gurich received her Juris Doctorate degree from the College of Law of the University of Oklahoma. While at OU, she was research editor of the American Indian Law Review and received the Professional Responsibility Award. In 2011, OU College of Law Chapter of the Order of the Coif academic society selected her as an honorary member. In 2016, Justice Gurich was inducted into the OU College of Law Order of the Owl Hall of Fame.  She serves on the OU College of Law Board of Visitors.  

Justice Gurich has been a member of the judicial branch of government in the state of Oklahoma for over 36 years. Prior to her judicial career, she practiced law in Oklahoma City for 10 years.  Justice Gurich has the unique distinction of having been appointed to a judicial office by four (4) Governors of Oklahoma, after being nominated by the constitutionally created Judicial Nominating Commission: Governors Henry Bellmon, David Walters, Frank Keating, and Brad Henry.   

She served as a judge on the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Court for 10 years. She also served 12 and one-half years as a district judge during which time she presided over nearly 200 jury trials.  Since beginning her service on the Supreme Court, Justice Gurich has been retained in office twice by voters state-wide.    

Justice Gurich is a member of the Oklahoma Bar Association, a member of the Oklahoma County Bar Association, life member of the Oklahoma Judicial Conference, and a sustaining partner of the Oklahoma Bar Foundation. Justice Gurich is a Master member and past President of the William J. Holloway, Jr. American Inn of Court (2007-08).  In 2020, she received the Holloway Award from the Inn.   

Justice Gurich was awarded the 2002 Outstanding Committee Award for her work as 2002 Law Day Co-Chair for the Oklahoma County Bar. In 2003, Justice Gurich received the Mona Lambird Spotlight Award from the OBA Women in Law.  Justice Gurich was inducted into the Journal Record Woman of the Year Circle of Excellence in 2011.  She was named the 2011 Judge of the Year from the Oklahoma Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates.  In 2013, she was honored with a By-liner Award by the Oklahoma City Chapter of the Association of Women in Communications.  Justice Gurich received a 2013 Valuable Volunteer Award by the Foundation for Oklahoma City Public Schools.  She was a Senior Follies Beauty in 2013 and 2014.  She was a member of SALLT Leadership Class 8.  In 2019, she was inducted into the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame.  The 2021 Sovereignty Symposium conferred the Hodges-Lavender Award for Judicial Excellence on Justice Gurich.  She was the recipient of the 2021 Oklahoma Bar Association Neil E. Bogan Award for Professionalism. Justice Gurich was nominated and inducted as a 2021 Fellow of the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers.  Justice Gurich was featured as a “Woman of Influence” in Edition 34 of LUXIERE Magazine. The Oklahoma County Bar Association Young Lawyers presented her with the Beacon Award in 2022.  She received the 2023 OK Young Professionals Icon Award.  

Justice Gurich is a member and past President (2006-07) of the Kiwanis Club of Oklahoma City. She is a volunteer for many community projects including the OKC Festival of the Arts, Kiwanis projects helping children, and is an annual bell ringer for the Salvation Army. Justice Gurich is an annual speaker/mentor for Girls’ State.  She is a frequent speaker for continuing legal, judicial, and medical education.  Justice Gurich is an active member of St. Luke’s Methodist Church, and she has in many leadership positions.  She also served as a missionary to Russia beginning in 1993 through 2004.  She is a currently a volunteer Meals on Wheels driver and TV camera operator for St. Luke’s. 

Justice Yvonne Kauger is a fourth generation Oklahoman from Colony, Oklahoma, who was born on August 3, 1937, to John and Alice Bottom Kauger.  She grew up on a Centennial farm in Washita County and graduated from Colony High School in 1955, as class Valedictorian. She also won the Betty Crocker award — and she still has the cookbook to prove it.

She attended Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, where she was named to Who’s Who in American College and Universities and graduated magna cum laude in 1958.  A year after graduation, she completed her internship at St. Anthonys Hospital as a certified Medical Technologist (MT.ASCP).  She worked at Medical Arts Laboratory to put herself through night school at Oklahoma City University School of Law.  She graduated in 1969, first in her class, and received the Iota Tau Tau international award for scholarship. She also modeled for the Oklahoma Journal, and ultimately for an ad by an Oklahoma insurance company, which appeared in Time Magazine.

She worked as an associate for Rogers, Travis, and Jordon until 1972.  Thereafter, she became the first woman staff lawyer at the Oklahoma Supreme Court for her mentor, Justice Ralph B. Hodges and she was appointed to the Capitol Preservation Commission by Chief Justice Pat Irwin.  She organized the first Judicial Day at Girls State while she held that position.  Governor George Nigh appointed her to the Oklahoma Supreme Court on March 14, 1984, two years after he had appointed the first woman to the Court, Justice Alma Bell Wilson.  The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma adopted her on Labor Day, 1984 on tribal grounds in Colony, Oklahoma.

After the death of Justice Wilson, on July 27, 1999, she was the only woman on the Supreme Court until she happily administered the oath of office to Justice Noma Diane Gurich on February 15, 2011. She welcomed Justice Dana Kuehn to the Court on July 26, 2021.

Justice Kauger, the Senior Justice of the Court, served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from January 1997 to January of 1999.  The OSCN network was established during her tenure as Chief Justice with the help of Justice Joe Watt, Grey Satterfield, Kevin King, and a group of interns who began it in the Supreme Court copyroom.  During that time, she was responsible for initiating neutral and parallel citations to the OSCN network of Oklahoma cases 03 Law Library Journal 331 (2011). She also initiated the commission to evaluate judicial performance, organized a master calendar, and established a newsletter to the judiciary.

At the direction of then Chief Justice Marion Opala, Kauger and her staff developed and published the first Court brochure and continued to do so until 2017 when it became an online version.  She is the last Justice to address the Joint Session of the Legislature.  The speech jump started the construction of a separate Supreme Court building that she had envisioned for decades to convert the Wiley Post building occupied by the Oklahoma Historical Society into the Court building.  The vision was accomplished on June 14, 2011, when after 30 years, and 3 bond issues, she and her staff moved into the Oklahoma Judicial Center.

She is immensely proud of her staff. Trailblazer, Vanessa Hines Traylor, was the first African American administrative assistant at the Supreme Court, where she served for many years. Kyle Shifflett celebrated 31 years with Justice Kauger in 2024. He also was a member of the Judicial Center Building and Arts committees. He also helped Kauger select and place all of the artwork in the building. Julie Rorie has coordinated The Sovereignty Symposium for 30 years and has worked for the court for 42 years. Beth Barnes Lott joined Justice Kauger in 2020 as her administrative assistant and retired in 2023.

Justice Kauger was a member of the Lyric Theatre Board where she ran the concession stand for 16 years and was President of the Board.  She co-founded Red Earth with Ken Bonds in 1987, and is known as the “Mother of Red Earth.” She was named Red Earth Ambassador in 2011.  She was named National Delta Zeta of the year in 1988-89 and appeared on the cover of the Delta Zeta magazine “The Lamp.”

At the direction of Chief Justice John Doolin, she began The Sovereignty Symposium in 1988.  The Sovereignty Symposium was transferred to Oklahoma City University in 2023.  Dean Roth presented Justice Kauger with The Sovereignty Symposium award for her thirty-five years of leadership.

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor became the patron saint of the Symposium, keynoting twice and was present for the unveiling of a painting in her honor by Thompson Williams. Justice Kauger’s grandson, Winston, having grown up with The Symposium, suggested a panel on Sights, Sounds, and Symbols which has remained one of the most successful panels which he and his brother Jay have moderated. Winston and O’Connor were pen pals, and after 5 requests to visit his school, Justice O’Connor acquiesced. During her visit, she took her copy of the United States Constitution out of her purse and inscribed it for Winston. The inscription read “Keep this always, it has our most important rights”. Winston got to introduce his dear friend Sandra Day O’Connor to the middle school at Heritage Hall where she visited his room. She then invited Winston to visit her at the United States Supreme Court.  Kauger, a former basketball player and a long shot artist, got to shoot goals in the United States Supreme Court basketball court located above the Supreme Court Courtroom.

Kauger received the Oklahoma City Dean McGee Pioneer Award in 1989.  She was the featured speaker at the twentieth William O. Douglas Lecture Series at Gonzaga University in November of 1990 27 Gonzaga Law Review 1.  She received an honorary doctorate from Oklahoma City University in 1991.  OCU and Southwestern Oklahoma State University have named her a distinguished alumnus.  In 1999, The American Judicature Society presented her with the Herbert Harley Award for the effective administration of Justice by the American Judicature Society.  She is one of only four Oklahomans to have received the award and the only sitting judge.

Her best friend for over 50 years, Bobbie Burbridge Lane, honored her in 2013, by donating and dedicating a statue of “Ruth,” by R. Romanelli Fiernze, to their alma mater, Oklahoma City University. After Bobbie starred in the Dallas Senior Follies, Kauger suggested she bring the concept to Oklahoma City.  After several meetings with Bobbie, Jon Finch, Dean Mark Parker of the OCU Music School, Paula Stover, and later Dr. Greg White, the OKC Senior Follies, sponsored by Bobbie and the Burbridge Foundation became a reality on June 11-12, 2011. One of the highlights of the follies is the follies beauties. Justice Noma Gurich appeared as a beauty in 2013-2014.

Kauger has served as Presiding Judge for the Court on the Judiciary, and on the Law School and Bench and Bar Committees of the Oklahoma Bar Association as well as the American Bar Association Law School Accreditation Committee.  In November of 1999, the Oklahoma Bar Association recognized her with the Judicial Excellence Award.  She and her daughter, Jonna Kauger Kirschner, became the only mother-daughter duo when the Bar Association recognized them with the Mona Salyer Lambird Spotlight Award in 1998, and 2018, respectively.

In 2001, Justice Kauger was inducted into the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame.  In 2004, the Oklahoma City Orchestra League recognized her one of the 10 most notable women in Oklahoma City, and the Oklahoma City University Alumni Association cited her for distinguished community service and professionalism.  The Paseo Arts Association acknowledged her with a Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Oklahoma City Chapter of the Association for Women in Communications awarded her the Byliner Award. She appears in the 4th grade history book by Geneva Hudson.  The cover of the book features Dixon Palmer, Kiowa Warbonnet maker, and member of the Black Leggings Society.  The Black Leggings have appeared at The Sovereignty Symposium since inception.  Her home was named a Centennial Project in 2007.  Although it was built five years after “The Guardian” by internationally recognized sculptor and painter, Enoch Kelly Haney, was placed on the dome of the capitol, Haney insisted that it was placed to face her house.

She was a featured speaker for Esther Woman, a contributing author to Jayne Jayroe’s book, Devote 40 Days, and an editor of the book Art of the Oklahoma Judicial Center, which was written by Gayleen Rabakukk with photography by Neil Chapman.  She wrote the introduction to Killing Albert Berch by Dr. Alan Hollingsworth. The cover artwork of the Art of the Oklahoma Judicial Center features pottery by her former basketball teammate, Jeri Redcorn, who single handledly restored the art of making Caddo pottery. Her work has been displayed in collections around the world, including the Oval Office, the Colony Museum, the Smithsonian, and the First American Museum.

She founded the Gallery of the Plains Indian in Colony, and restored her home built in 1898, the Graham Cottage.  The gallery is now permanently hung with photographer Terry Zinn’s photos of the first Red Earth and the traditional Colony Cheyenne-Arapaho Pow Wow, which was first displayed at the Science Museum Oklahoma and dedicated to Kauger’s parents.

Kauger was the chairman of the Building and the Arts committee for the Oklahoma Judicial Center which reflects the history of the state and the judiciary.  She and her staff lawyer, Kyle Shifflett, curated the art of the Judicial Center.  She has been given the Governors Arts Award for Red Earth, and with the Arts Committee, for the Art of the Judicial Center.  She was instrumental in the restoration of the Veteran’s Memorial and the sculpture by Jay O’Melia and Bill Sowell on the Judicial Center grounds.  She instigated Movie Night at the Court which is a free continuing education seminar for lawyers.

Since 1993, she has worked to revive her hometown, Colony, by turning it into an artist colony, most recently with the assistance of Mayor Lonnie Yearwood. It now has five murals in the John Kauger Memorial Park.  One by Patrick Riley and the children of Colony and four by Comanche artist and professor, Dr. Eric Tippeconnic.  (It is the mural capitol of the world – per capita. Colony has a population of 125.)  It also has a magnificent Eagle Sculpture by Patrick Riley, Glen Henry, and Ron Lowry.  There are now two artists in residence: Patrick Riley and Jim VanDeman.  The Colony Museum opened in 2021 with many of the exhibits loaned by her. The extensive Alice Bottom Kauger teapot collection is housed in the old bank vault of the Kauger building in the Colony Museum. She and her grandson, Jay Scambler, were instrumental in establishing the Colony website, colonyok.com

In 2021, she was introduced by former Chief Justice Steven Taylor for induction into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. She also was inducted into the Oklahoma Historical Society’s Historian Hall of Fame.  She has administered the oath of office to the Oklahoma Historical Society’s Board of Directors and the State Regents for Higher Education for decades.  Kauger received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Leadership Oklahoma in 2021.  In 2022, Sister Cities International gave her the Global Achievement Humanitarian Award.

Justice Kauger is a member of the Episcopal Church.  She is a quilter and a sculptor.  Her staff lawyer, Kyle Shifflett, dubbed her sculptures “Kaugirls” and “Kauboys.”  She has attended every gubernatorial inauguration since the first inauguration of David Boren in 1981. Her daughter, Jonna Kauger Kirschner, is a lawyer and British solicitor.  She has two practically perfect grandsons, Jay and Winston, two granddaughter’s in-law, Bridget and Emma, and a perfect great-grandson, Julian. She was honored to deliver the commencement address for Winston’s graduation, to attend his white coat ceremony at TCU Medical School, and to officiate at his marriage.

After Te Ata, the first Oklahoma treasure, and a Chickasaw Nation storyteller died, Senator Helen Cole, Congressman Tom Cole and the Cole family decided that her Northern Cheyenne beaded collar should be given to Justice Yvonne Kauger.  Justice Kauger wore it to officiate at the wedding of General Rita Aragon and Gary Watson on February 27, 2024, and at the wedding of her grandson, Winston and Emma on June 29, 2024, in the Supreme Court Courtroom.  She has loaned it to The Oklahoma Arts Council, and it will be displayed at the State Capitol Building under the Te Ata painting.

Her opinions are available on oscn.net.

Before being appointed to the Supreme Court, Justice James Edmondson served in Oklahoma's Eastern District as acting United States attorney (1980-1981) and as assistant U.S. attorney (1978-1980). He also served as Muskogee County's assistant district attorney (1976-1978).  

Justice Edmondson received his B.A. degree from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah in 1967. He served in the United States Navy (1967-1969) before attending Georgetown University Law School, where he received his law degree in 1973. In 1983, he was appointed district judge by Gov. George Nigh.  

For the next 20 years, he regularly held court in Wagoner, Muskogee, Cherokee, Adair and Sequoyah counties. He alternated annually as chief judge of Muskogee County with District Judges Hardy Summers, Lyle Burris and Mike Norman. He also served as presiding judge of the East Central Judicial Administrative District. 

In 2003, he was appointed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court by Gov. Brad Henry, succeeding Justice Summers upon his retirement. Retained on the court in 2006, he served as chief justice in 2009 and 2010; he was retained again in 2012 and 2018. 

He and his wife, Suzanne, have two grown children, Jimmy and Sarah, a granddaughter Essie, and a grandson, Jack. 

Judge William J. Musseman, District 1, was born and raised in Tulsa, graduating High School there in 1991. He pursued his college education at Northeastern State University where he played soccer. He graduated from Northeastern State University in 1995 and then earned his Juris Doctor degree from the OU School of Law in 1997. He served 11 years as an Assistant District Attorney in the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office as a prosecuting trial attorney and supervisor. He was later named Director of the Major Crimes team where he was responsible for the prosecution of major crimes, homicides and death penalty cases.

Judge Musseman was designated as a Special Assistant United States Attorney with authorization to conduct grand jury investigations and pursue joint federal/state investigations and prosecutions. In December 2009, he became a Special Judge in the 14th Judicial District covering Tulsa and Pawnee Counties. He was then elected District Judge and served in that role from 2011 to 2022 and also served as Presiding Judge. Musseman was selected to serve as a trial judge member of the Court on the Judiciary and was a member of the Assembly of Presiding Judges. He served as Chief of the Criminal Division and was a member of the Executive Committee for the 14th Judicial District. Governor Stitt appointed Judge Musseman to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on March 4, 2022, where he currently serves as Vice Presiding Judge.

He is a member of the Oklahoma Bar Association and the Tulsa County Bar Association. Musseman served as chairman of the Oklahoma Uniform Criminal Jury Instruction Committee and is now the liaison to that committee for the Court of Criminal Appeals.

Judge Musseman and his wife, Keirsten, grew up together in Tulsa, attending elementary, junior high and high school together. They married and made Tulsa their home, where they raised three children.

Judge Scott Rowland was appointed to the Court of Criminal Appeals in November 2017 by Gov. Mary Fallin and has served as Presiding Judge of the Court since 2021.  He grew up in Wynnewood graduating from high school there in 1983, and then earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism/political science from the University of Oklahoma in 1987. After earning his Juris Doctorate cum laude from Oklahoma City University School of Law in 1994, Judge Rowland served as an assistant attorney general for the State of Oklahoma, general counsel to the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs and for 11 years as First Assistant District Attorney in the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office.   

He has lectured throughout the United States to the bar and judiciary on various areas of criminal constitutional procedure and has authored numerous articles on Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendment law.  He currently teaches evidence and legal ethics at Oklahoma City University School of Law and has been an adjunct instructor of criminal and constitutional law at Oklahoma State University at Oklahoma City since 1998. Judge Rowland was inducted into the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Hall of Fame in 2016, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics Director’s Hall of Fame in 2021, named Outstanding Adjunct Faculty at OSU-OKC in 2017, Outstanding Oklahoma Prosecutor for 2013 by the Oklahoma District Attorneys Association, and State Prosecutor of the Year for 2001 and 2004 by the Association of Oklahoma Narcotic Enforcers.   

He and his wife, Shannon, live in Oklahoma City with their daughters, Caroline and Emma.  

Judge David B. Lewis was born and raised in Ardmore, Oklahoma, and graduated in May 1976 from Ardmore High School. Governor Brad Henry appointed him as Judge on the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on August 4, 2005. He served as Presiding Judge for 2013-2014; 2019-2020.

He has served as president of the Oklahoma Judicial Conference. He was inducted into the Order of the Owl at the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 2017. Judge Lewis serves on the Board of Visitors of the University of Oklahoma College of Law. Judge Lewis serves as a volunteer reader at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School.

Judge Lewis has two children – a son, David Jr., and a daughter, Danielle. He is also the proud grandfather of three grandchildren Ava, Carter, and Claire Lewis. Lewis is the longest serving Afro-American Judge in Oklahoma History. Judge Lewis also serves on the Board of Directors for Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma and served as chairman of Reach Out and Read Oklahoma.

Judge James R. Huber, born February 21, 1968, is a life-long Oklahoman who has been serving on the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals since his appointment by Governor Kevin Stitt in April 2023. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Oklahoma and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Tulsa College of Law. While in law school, Judge Huber interned with the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office and continued to work there after his admission to the Oklahoma Bar. Judge Huber entered private practice in 1994 with Malloy and Associates. From 2005 until 2019, he served as the managing partner at the Collier and Huber Law Firm with an emphasis on commercial litigation, regulatory compliance, creditor’s rights, and employment law. His legal career included extensive trial experience in both state and federal courts. In 2019, Judge Huber was appointed as a special judge by the Tulsa County District Judges. He was appointed as a District Judge in Tulsa County in October 2020, where he served as Chief Judge of the Family Division. Judge Huber presided over trials while supervising six special judges and conducting the youthful offender criminal docket. On June 28, 2022, he was re-elected to his position as District Judge. He is a member of the Tulsa County Bar Association and the Oklahoma Bar Association. Judge Huber is admitted to practice in all Oklahoma state courts, as well as the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Oklahoma, the U.S. Bankruptcy Courts for these districts, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He serves on the Oklahoma Judicial Conference Legislative Committee and is the president of the Hudson-Hall-Wheaton Inn of Court. His community service includes serving on the Board of Directors for the Tulsa Boys’ Home and Marquette Catholic School and he is the past president of the Junior Comet Football Association. Judge Huber and his wife, Julie, have been married since 1993 and have five children.

Governor Kevin Stitt appointed Judge Timothy J. Downing to the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals on May 27, 2022.

Rural Oklahoma is where Downing grew up working on farms and ranches. He graduated from Stratford High School and met his wife Lan the next year after she graduated from Pauls Valley High School. They got married and spent their twenties working their way through college, serving in ministry, and starting a family. Downing went to law school later in life at the age of thirty. He was the first person in his family to go to law school. Downing pursued a legal education because he wanted to use it to make a difference for his State and Country. His public service has included the military, all three branches of government, and both federal and state offices.

Military service is Downing’s favorite job as an attorney. After law school, he joined the military as a Judge Advocate in the United States Army Reserve where he continues to serve today. He loves helping Soldiers and their families with their legal needs, and leading and mentoring other Soldiers.

President Donald J. Trump appointed Downing to serve as the 25th United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma. He was sworn into office on June 5, 2019, after being confirmed by the United States Senate. As the United States Attorney, Downing served as the chief federal law enforcement officer in the Western District of Oklahoma. In this capacity, he was responsible for all federal criminal prosecutions and civil litigation involving the United States in the district, with an office of over 100 employees.

Prior to his presidential appointment, Downing was elected by the voters of House District 42 to the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 2016. During his time in the Oklahoma Legislature, Downing served as an Assistant Majority Floor Leader, an Assistant Majority Whip, and Vice-Chair of the Judiciary Committee, in addition to his other committee assignments. He did not seek re-election, and instead during his confirmation process for United States Attorney, Downing served as Counselor to the Oklahoma Secretary of State where he worked on Governor Stitt’s 2019 transition and first legislative session in office.

The Office of the Oklahoma Attorney General is where Downing served on two occasions and under three different Attorneys General. In 2021, Downing served as the First Assistant Attorney General of Oklahoma as the chief executive for the Attorney General, with an office of over 200 employees. He previously served there for his first job after law school as an Assistant Attorney General and Director of Legislative Affairs.

Downing is also an Appellate Military Judge for the Oklahoma Military Court of Appeals. The Legislature created the court to convene as needed with judges who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Oklahoma Senate. He was appointed by Governor Stitt and confirmed by the Oklahoma Senate in 2021.

Downing is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a B.A. in Public Affairs and Administration, Oral Roberts University with a Masters in Management, and Regent University School of Law. During law school, Downing was a Senior Law Clerk for Jay Sekulow at the American Center for Law and Justice, and a Legal Fellow for United States Senator James Inhofe.

The Downings have four children. They live in Norman where their kids go to school, and they are involved in their local church. Lan is a track coach, and their kids are very active in sports. When he is not being a judge or a Soldier, Downing spends his free time with his family.

Gov. Kevin Stitt appointed Judge Thomas E. Prince to the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals on Dec. 18, 2020.  He served as the Presiding Judge of Division III of the Court during 2022 and 2023.  In addition to his regular duties on the Court, Judge Prince was appointed in 2024, as one of three Judges on the Court of Existing Claims Division of the Court of Civil Appeals.  This Division of the Court has jurisdiction to hear all appeals from the Workers’ Compensation Court of Existing Claims.   

Judge Prince served as a District Judge in Oklahoma County from 2012 to 2020.  During his tenure as a District Judge, the Oklahoma Supreme Court appointed him as the Presiding Judge of the State Multi-County Grand Jury, serving in that role from 2016 to 2018.  He also was elected by his District Court colleagues in Oklahoma and Canadian counties to serve as the Vice-Presiding Administrative Judge for the 7th Judicial Administrative District during 2016 to 2018.  He was later elected to serve as the Presiding Administrative Judge for the year 2019.   

He served as President of the Oklahoma Judges’ Association from 2013 to 2015 and is a former member of the Oklahoma County Law Library Board of Trustees.  He is a member of the Oklahoma and Oklahoma County Bar Associations.  He also is a current member of the Oklahoma Judicial Conference Legislative Committee.  In addition, he is a Master Member and Past President of the Luther Bohanon American Inn of Court.   

Prior to becoming a judge, Judge Prince was in private law practice for 29 years.  While in private law practice, he served on a part-time basis as an Administrative Law Judge for the Oklahoma Merit Protection Commission, the Oklahoma State Department of Health and the Construction Industries Board.  Judge Prince also was appointed by three prior governors to the Oklahoma State Election Board, serving in that role from 1999 to 2012.  He also was a member of the Standards Board of the United States Election Assistance Commission from 2009 to 2012.   

Born in Idabel, Judge Prince earned a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1979 from Southern Arkansas University and, in 1982, a J.D. from the OCU School of Law.  Judge Prince and his wife, Sherry, have five children and nine grandchildren. 

Judge Robert (Bobby) Bell attended and graduated from the Norman Public School system. He received his B.A. from the University of Oklahoma, J.D. from the University of Tulsa College of Law and a LL.M. from the Duke University School of Law. In law school, he was presented the award for distinguished service to the House of Delegates for recognition of being elected to office all three years of school.  

Judge Bell was engaged in private practice for 13 years in Norman. During the same time he was in private practice, he was a municipal judge for the cities of Moore, Purcell, Blanchard, Noble and Broken Arrow.  

He was appointed to the bench in 1994 and he has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Oklahoma College of Law since 1998. In June 2005, he was appointed as a judge on the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals. He is an admitted member of the Oklahoma, as well as the District of Columbia Bar Association.  

Judge Bell has received Governor's Commendation awards from Governor Brad Henry and Governor Mary Fallin for outstanding judicial service. 

He married Carolyn Johnson, and they have two children – Bradleigh Jewel and Adelaide Jane. He is a member of Christ the King Catholic Church in Oklahoma City.  

Judge E. Bay Mitchell was born on Nov. 6, 1953. He grew up in Enid and graduated from Enid High School in 1972. He attended the University of Oklahoma, where he received a bachelor’s degree in 1976 and a Juris Doctor degree in 1979. He worked in private law practice for 14 years in Oklahoma City and in Enid. In 1993, he became staff attorney to Judge Carl B. Jones of the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals.  

Gov. Frank Keating appointed Judge Mitchell to the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals in 2002, and the voters retained him in November 2004, 2006, 2012 and 2018. He is a member of the Oklahoma and Oklahoma County bar associations. He is also a member of the OBA Appellate Practice Section, a Sustaining Fellow of the Oklahoma Bar Foundation and a member of the Oklahoma Supreme Court Committee for Uniform Jury Instructions. He is a former member of the OBA Administration of Justice Committee and was a volunteer at Legal Aid of Western Oklahoma. Judge Mitchell is currently a Master Emeritus in the Ginsburg American Inn of Court. 

He has been admitted to practice in all Oklahoma state courts, the U.S. District Court for the Western and Northern Districts of Oklahoma, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court.  

Judge Mitchell and his wife, Deborah, have been married for 48 years. They have three children – Elliot, Madeline and Adam. 

Judge Brian Goree was raised in Tulsa and earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Oklahoma in 1986. He received his law degree from the University of Tulsa College of Law in 1989 and obtained his license as a registered patent attorney in 2002.

Judge Goree practiced law in Tulsa for more than 20 years. He worked as an associate attorney at Secrest, Hill and Butler in civil litigation and workers’ compensation. At Latham, Wagner, Steele and Lehman, he managed the legal research and writing team and handled numerous appeals. He continued his focus on brief writing at Toon Osmond PLLC and expanded his practice in the federal courts.

He has been a volunteer with Tulsa Lawyers for Children and is an active member and former chairman of the Oklahoma Bar Association Appellate Practice Section. He has a passion for encouraging and advising law school students through judicial internships, mentor luncheons and moot court competitions.

Gov. Mary Fallin appointed Judge Goree to the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals in 2012. He currently serves as vice-chief judge.