Courthouse complex to get retired justice’s name
MCALESTER — The first time Steven Taylor came to the Pittsburg County Courthouse was for a field trip in the fourth grade.
He loved watching a jury trial so much he persuaded his teacher to let him come back the next day.
Taylor later spent two decades at the same courthouse as a judge. He presided over more than 500 jury trials, the last one being the Oklahoma City bombing case, before joining the Oklahoma Supreme Court in 2004.
Now, almost 60 years after that first fateful visit, the courthouse and courthouse annex will bear the name of the recently retired justice.
County commissioners voted twice — last week and again Monday — to name the buildings on that block The Justice Steven W. Taylor Courthouse Complex.
“He has been recognized by institutions all over the state . ... So I really thought that something needed to be done in his hometown to recognize him,” said Pittsburg County District Judge Jim Bland, who came up with the idea for the honor. “And what better than to name ... the area where he started his career?” Bland said. “He’s told the story about his first contact being coming up to the courtroom that was eventually his ... when he was a fourth-grader on a field trip and being so taken with it. And, so, it really seemed like it was coming full circle to ... name this complex after him.”
Taylor, 67, still lives in McAlester. He said Monday he was surprised and humbled.