Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals

Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals
Established	1970
Jurisdiction	Oklahoma
Composition method	Intermediate appellate court
Authorized by	State legislature
Appeals from	Oklahoma Supreme Court
Number of positions	12
Website	Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals

The Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals is an intermediate appellate court in the state of Oklahoma. Cases are assigned to it by the Oklahoma Supreme Court, the state's highest court for civil matters.[1]

The court consists of twelve judges divided into four panels with three judges each.[1] They are responsible for the majority of appellate decisions in Oklahoma.[2] Furthermore, the Oklahoma Supreme Court has the power to release the court's opinions for publication, in which case they have value as precedent.[2]

Two of the court's four panels are housed in Tulsa, Oklahoma.[3] The two Oklahoma City panels are housed in the Oklahoma State Capitol building.

History

The Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals was established by the state legislature in 1970 under Title 20, section 30.1, of the Oklahoma Statutes, which provides: "There is hereby established an intermediate appellate court to be known as the Court of Civil Appeals of the State of Oklahoma which shall have the power to determine or otherwise dispose of any cases that are assigned to it by the Supreme Court." Any decision of the Court of Civil Appeals in any case assigned to it, upon petition by one of the parties involved, may be reviewed by the Oklahoma Supreme Court if a majority of its Justices direct that a petition for certiorari be granted, and the Supreme Court may, by order, recall a case from the Court of Civil Appeals.

Selection process

Appellate judges are appointed by the governor from a list of three candidates nominated by the Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission.[4] The commission is composed of six attorneys who are "members of the Oklahoma Bar Association and who have been elected by the other active members of their district," 6 non-attorneys appointed by the governor, and 3 non-attorney "members at large," one to be selected by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, one to be selected by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and one to be selected by at least eight members of the commission itself.[4] Article 7B, section 3, of the Oklahoma Constitution sets forth the composition of the nominating commission in even greater detail.

Members

Current judges

The Judges of the Court of Civil Appeals are:

Name	District	Division	Duty station	Position	Date of appointment	Appointed by	Law School	Birth City	Length of service	Previous positions	Succeeded
Trevor Pemberton	4	3	Oklahoma City	Presiding Judge	August 24, 2020	Kevin Stitt	Oklahoma City		0 years	Judge, Oklahoma County (2017-20)	Larry Joplin
Thomas E. Prince	5	1	Oklahoma City		January 1, 2021	Kevin Stitt	Oklahoma City		0 years	Judge, Oklahoma County (2012-20)	Kenneth L. Buettner
Robert D. Bell	5	3	Oklahoma City		2005	Brad Henry	Tulsa	Norman, OK	16 years	Private Practice (1992-2005)	Carl Jones
Deborah Barnes	2	2	Tulsa		2008	Brad Henry	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma City, OK	13 years	Private Practice (2002-2008)
John F. Fischer	2	4	Tulsa	Vice Chief Judge	2007	Brad Henry	Oklahoma	Rush Springs, OK	13 years	Private Practice (1980-2007)
Jane P. Wiseman	1	2	Tulsa	Presiding Judge	2005	Brad Henry	Tulsa	Tulsa, OK	16 years	Judge, Tulsa County (1977-2005)	Joe C. Taylor
E. Bay Mitchell	6	1	Oklahoma City		2002	Frank Keating	Oklahoma	Enid, OK	19 years	Staff Attorney, Court of Civil Appeals (1993-2002)	James P. Garrett
Barbara Swinton	4	3	Oklahoma City	Chief Judge	2016	Mary Fallin	Georgia State	Oklahoma City, OK	5 years	Judge, Oklahoma County (1996-2016)	William Hetherington
Brian Jack Goree	6	1	Oklahoma City	Presiding Judge	2012	Mary Fallin	Tulsa	Killeen, Texas	9 years	Private Practice (1989-2012)	Carol M. Hansen
P. Thomas Thornbrugh	3	2	Tulsa		2011	Mary Fallin	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma City, OK	10 years	Judge, Tulsa County (1997-2011)
W. Keith Rapp	3	4	Tulsa		1984	George Nigh	Tulsa	Wheelersburg, OH	37 years	Judge, Tulsa County (???-1984)
Stacie Hixon	1	4	Tulsa	Presiding Judge	March 11, 2020	Kevin Stitt	Tulsa	Owasso, Oklahoma	0 years	Private Practice (2002-20)	Jerry L. Goodman

This graphical timeline depicts the length of each current judge's tenure (but not seniority) on the Court:

Timeline of justices

Beginning in 1987, seats on the Court of Civil Appeals are filled by non-partisan appointment by the Governor of Oklahoma upon nomination by the Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission. Judges serve until the next general election following their appointment at which they are retained or rejected. If retained, they serve for an additional six-years until the next retention election.

Note: The blue vertical line denotes "now" (January 2021).
Bar key: Democrat appointee • Republican appointee

References

, Stephens, Jerry E.,"Judiciary." Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. May 31, 2010.] Accessed May 2, 2018
Oklahoma Bar Association, "Judges and Courts" (accessed June 23, 2010).
Oklahoma Supreme Court Network, "The Supreme Court of Oklahoma," p. 3 (accessed June 23, 2010).
Oklahoma Supreme Court Network, "The Supreme Court of Oklahoma," p. 5 (accessed June 23, 2010).

External links

Flowchart of the Oklahoma Court System, showing the jurisdiction of the Court of Civil Appeals

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[stephens-1] , Stephens, Jerry E.,"Judiciary." Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. May 31, 2010.] Accessed May 2, 2018

[okbar-2] Oklahoma Bar Association, "Judges and Courts" (accessed June 23, 2010).

[3] Oklahoma Supreme Court Network, "The Supreme Court of Oklahoma," p. 3 (accessed June 23, 2010).

[oscn-4] Oklahoma Supreme Court Network, "The Supreme Court of Oklahoma," p. 5 (accessed June 23, 2010).