Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice vacancy (December 2024)
| Oklahoma Supreme Court |
|---|
 |
| Kauger vacancy |
| Date: December 1, 2024 |
| Status: Seat filled |
| Nomination |
| Nominee: Travis Jett |
| Date: April 14, 2025 |
On April 14, 2025, Governor Kevin Stitt (R) appointed Travis Jett to the Oklahoma Supreme Court to replace Justice Yvonne Kauger, who retired on December 1, 2024.[1] Her retirement came after a November 2024 election in which the justice was not retained. Kauger, receiving 49.8% of the vote in favor of retention, with 50.2% of voters against.[2] Jett is Gov. Stitt's fourth nominee to the nine-member Oklahoma Supreme Court.
In Oklahoma, state supreme court justices are selected through assisted appointment with a hybrid judicial nominating commission. Justices are appointed by the governor with the assistance of a commission who has no majority of members selected either by the governor or the state Bar Association. There are 10 states that use this selection method. To read more about the assisted appointment of judges, click here.
If a justice retires before the end of his or her term, the vacancy is filled just as it normally would be, with the governor appointing a successor from a list of names provided by the nominating commission. If the appointment is not made within 60 days of the vacancy, the chief justice is responsible for selecting a replacement.[3] The appointed justice then must stand for retention in the next general election after he or she has served one year on the bench to serve out the remainder of his or her predecessor's term.[4][5]
Ballotpedia has compiled the following resources on the process to fill the Oklahoma Supreme Court vacancy:
- An overview of the appointee.
- A list of finalists recommended to the governor.
- A list of candidates who applied to the vacancy.
- An overview of the selection process.
- An overview of the court following the vacancy.
- An overview of the justice who left office.
- A list of other state supreme court appointments in 2024.
The appointee
- See also: Travis Jett
On April 14, 2025, Governor Kevin Stitt (R) appointed Travis Jett to the Oklahoma Supreme Court.[1]
Appointee candidates and nominations
Finalists
On March 11, 2025, the Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission released a list of three candidates that passed the interview portion of the nomination process. From here, the finalists will be sent to the Governor of Oklahoma Kevin Stitt (R) for the final appointment. If, within 60 days Gov. Stitt does not make an appointment, the chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court will get an opportunity to appoint someone to the court. The finalists were:[6]
- District court judge Donna L. Dirickson
- Attorney Travis Jett
- District court judge Jon Parsley[7]
Applicants
On December 31, 2024, the Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission released a list of 14 candidates who had applied to the Oklahoma Supreme Court vacancy. The candidates were:[8]
- District court judge Aric Alley
- Oklahoma Workers' Compensation Court of Existing Claims judge and former Oklahoma House of Representatives member Scott Biggs
- District court judge Donna L. Dirickson
- District court judge Louis A. Duel
- Attorney Spencer Habluetzel
District court judge Paul Hesse[9]- Attorney Travis Jett
- District court judge Michelle Kirby-Roper
- Former Oklahoma solicitor general Mithun Mansinghani
- Attorney Nisha Moreau
- District court judge Jon Parsley
- District court judge Lance Schneiter
- Attorney Chelsea Smith
- District court judge Stuart Tate[10][11]
The selection process
- See also: Judicial selection in Oklahoma
In Oklahoma, state supreme court justices are selected through assisted appointment with a hybrid judicial nominating commission. Justices are appointed by the governor with the assistance of a commission who has no majority of members selected either by the governor or the state Bar Association. There are 10 states that use this selection method. To read more about the assisted appointment of judges, click here.
Makeup of the court
- See also: Oklahoma Supreme Court
Justices
Following Kauger's retirement, the Oklahoma Supreme Court included the following members:
| ■ M. John Kane IV (Position 1) | Appointed by Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) in 2019, and retained in 2020 | |
| ■ Dustin Rowe (Position 2) | Appointed by Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) in 2019, and retained in 2022 | |
| ■ Noma D. Gurich (Position 3) | Appointed by Gov. Brad Henry (D) in 2011, and retained three times since | |
| ■ James R. Winchester (Position 5) | Appointed by Gov. Frank Keating (R) in 2000, and retained five times since | |
| ■ Dana Kuehn (Position 6) | Appointed by Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) in 2021, and retained in 2022 | |
| ■ James Edmondson (Position 7) | Appointed by Gov. Brad Henry (D) in 2003, and retained four times since | |
| ■ Douglas L. Combs (Position 8) | Appointed by Gov. Brad Henry (D) in 2010, and retained three times since | |
| ■ Richard Darby (Position 9) | Appointed by Gov. Mary Fallin (R) in 2018, and retained in 2020 |
About the court
Founded in 1907, the Oklahoma Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort for civil matters, while the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals is the court of last resort for criminal matters. The supreme court has nine judgeships. The current chief of the court is Dustin Rowe.
About Justice Kauger
- See also: Yvonne Kauger
Biography
Kauger graduated from Southwestern Oklahoma State University in 1958 and received her J.D. from the Oklahoma City University School of Law in 1969.[12] Prior to her appointment to the Oklahoma Supreme Court in 1984, Kauger served as presiding judge on the Oklahoma Court of the Judiciary. She also served as symposium coordinator for The Sovereignty Symposium, founded the Gallery of the Plains Indian in Colony, and co-founded Red Earth.[13] In 2001 she was inducted in the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame, and in 1999 she received the American Judicature Society's Herbert Harley Award, and the Oklahoma Bar Association's Judicial Excellence Award. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from OCU in 1991, and was awarded Oklahoma City's Pioneer Award in 1989.[12] Kauger was adopted by the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes of Oklahoma in 1984. She was also the chair of the Building Committee for the Oklahoma Judicial Center, and a member of the District State-Federal Judicial Council, and Washita County Hall of Fame.[12]
Retention election (2024)
Yvonne Kauger was not retained in a November 2024 Oklahoma Supreme Court election. A majority of voters, 50.2%, chose not to retain Kauger, compared to 49.8% who voted to retain the justice. On December 1, 2024, Kauger resigned from the court following the election, vacating her seat before her term ended.[2]
Oklahoma Supreme Court District 4
Yvonne Kauger was not retained to District 4 of the Oklahoma Supreme Court on November 5, 2024 with 49.8% of the vote.
Retention Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
Yes |
49.8
|
717,063 | |||
| ✖ | No |
50.2
|
723,931 | ||
Total Votes |
1,440,994 | ||||
|
|
Other state supreme court appointments in 2024
- See also: State supreme court vacancies, 2024
The following table lists vacancies on state supreme courts that opened in 2024. Click the link under the Court column for a particular vacancy for more information on that vacancy.
Click here for vacancies that opened in 2023.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Oklahoma Governor J. Kevin Stitt, "Governor Stitt Appoints Travis Jett to the Oklahoma Supreme Court," April 14, 2025
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Oklahoman, "Put out of office by voters, Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Yvonne Kauger has no regrets," December 1, 2024
- ↑ Oklahoma Public Research System, "Section VII-B-4: Vacancy in Judicial Office - Filling," accessed September 22, 2021
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedOKgeneral - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedOKSEL - ↑ Note: Finalists are listed in alphabetical order by last name
- ↑ Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission, "Press Release," March 12, 2025
- ↑ Note: Applicants are listed in alphabetical order by last name
- ↑ Note: Hesse withdrew his nomination.
- ↑ Judicial Nominating Commission, "Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission," December 31, 2024
- ↑ NonDoc, "Kauger’s OK Supreme Court seat draws 14 applicants," December 31, 2024
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 The Supreme Court of the State of Oklahoma, "Justice Yvonne Kauger, District No. 4," accessed July 5, 2021
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Justice Yvonne Kauger (OK)," accessed July 5, 2021
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Federal courts:
Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Oklahoma, Northern District of Oklahoma, Western District of Oklahoma • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Oklahoma, Northern District of Oklahoma, Western District of Oklahoma
State courts:
Oklahoma Supreme Court • Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals • Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals • Oklahoma District Courts • Oklahoma Workers' Compensation Court of Existing Claims
State resources:
Courts in Oklahoma • Oklahoma judicial elections • Judicial selection in Oklahoma
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