Judge applicant pool cut to 3
Stitt to pick next Supreme Court justice from three southeastern Oklahoma judges
Gov. Kevin Stitt will pick the next Oklahoma Supreme Court justice from among three southeastern Oklahoma judges, all Republican men.
The Judicial Nominating Commission ha sn arrowed seven applicants for the District 2 Supreme Court vacancy to Bryan County District Judge Mark Campbell, Chickasaw Nation Judge Dust in Rowe and Le Flore County District Judge Jonathan K. Sullivan.
Stitt, a Republican in his first year as governor, will be making his second selection for the nine-member Supreme Court. That is as many as former Gov. Mary Fallin made in eight years.
“The governor and his staff are reviewing the application packets and will interview all of the candidates in the next few weeks ,” Bay lee La key, Stitt's communications director, said Friday.
“The governor looks forward to meeting with each applicant and ensuring that he appoints a qualified judge to the Supreme Court of Oklahoma that will serve all 4 million Oklahomans with integrity, passion and honor.”
The governor's appointments to the high court are not subject to confirmation by either house of the Legislature. Justices appear on statewide retention ballots every six years.
The District 2 court seat was held for only two years by Patrick Wyrick, who is now a federal judge in Oklahoma City. Campbell and Sullivan
were f i nalists f or the seat when Wyrick was named in February 2017. The District 2 seat includes 13 counties in southeastern Oklahoma.
Campbell, 45, has been a judge in Bryan County since his appointment in 2005 by former Gov. Brad Henry, a Democrat. He was reelected last year without opposition.
Sullivan, 56, was elected in 2010 and won reelection i n 2014 and 2018 without opposition.
Rowe ,44, has been a Chickasaw Nation distri ct judge since 2011. He also owns a law firm in Tis ho min go. Rowe was elected mayor of Tishomingo when he was 18 years old. In 2012, he ran unsuccessfully for the eastern Oklahoma congressional seat.
St it t' s first pick to the court was M. John Kane IV, 57, of Pawhuska, for the District 1 seat in northern Oklahoma. Kane, who had been a district judge in Os age
County, was sworn in on Sept. 23. Kane replaced John F Reif, who had been appointed by Henry.
St ittvo wed during his 2018 campaign for governor to appoint Oklahoma Supreme Court justices who opposed abortion. The governor received letters from t he head of an Oklahoma anti-abortion group and others stating that Kane was anti-abortion.
The high court is now being asked to rule on two abortion laws, one that would ban a certain method after 14 weeks and another that requires a 72-hour waiting period after state-mandated counseling.
One woman applied f or the District 2 vacancy — Jana K. Wallace, a Pushmataha County associate district judge. Four women applied for the District 1 vacancy. Oklahoma Court of Ci vi l Appeals Judge Deborah Barnes was one of the three finalists for the District 1 vacancy; she is the only registered Democrat to apply for either of the seats.