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.

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

Two of the court's four panels are housed in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 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. The commission is composed 6 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. Article 7B, section 3, of the Oklahoma Constitution sets forth the composition of the nominating commission in even greater detail.

List of current judges

Justice	Birthplace	Year Service Began	Appointing Governor	Law School
E. Bay Mitchell, III	Enid, Oklahoma	2002	Frank Keating	University of Oklahoma
Jane Wiseman	Tulsa, Oklahoma	2005	Brad Henry	University of Tulsa
Deborah B. Barnes (chief judge)	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	2008	Brad Henry	Oklahoma City University
Robert D. Bell	Norman, Oklahoma	2005	Brad Henry	University of Tulsa
Kenneth L. Buettner	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	1996	Frank Keating	Southern Methodist University
John Fischer	Rush Springs, Oklahoma	2007	Brad Henry	University of Oklahoma
Brian Jack Goree			Mary Fallin	University of Oklahoma
Jerry Goodman	Mangum, Oklahoma	1994	David Walters	Georgetown University
Thomas Thornbrugh	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma		Mary Fallin	Oklahoma City University
William C. Hetherington (vice-chief judge)	Norman, Oklahoma	2009	Brad Henry	Oklahoma City University
Larry E. Joplin	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	1994	David Walters	University of Oklahoma
W. Keith Rapp	Wheelersburg, Ohio	1984	George Nigh	University of Tulsa

External links

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