Frog Fiasco
By Judge David Barnett

In my many years as a district court judge in Oklahoma, I have presided over several cases that were highly publicized in our area and in our state. However, I have had very few that received national publicity. The first such case was one I have come to remember as The Tillman County Frog Case, an account of which was widely publicized all over the nation.

As part of my normal responsibilities, I am assigned to preside over cases arising under the general misdemeanor statutes, as well as the specialized misdemeanor statues, including the wildlife and game laws. In the infamous Tillman County Frog Case, a man was charged with shooting or “taking” a frog without having purchased the requisite hunting license.

In presenting the case, the state’s attorney relied on the wildlife code in the Oklahoma Statues and did not present the more specialized regulations promulgated by the Wildlife Commission, nor did I have ready access to them at the hearing. In examining the wildlife code, it became clear to me that amphibians, including frogs, were not covered by the definitions of game or wildlife in the Oklahoma Statues. Of course, I later learned that frogs are covered by the Wildlife Commission’s regulations. Based upon my reading of the statues, I summarily dismissed the case, much to the chagrin of the state game ranger who had written the citation and presented the case to the district attorney for prosecution.

The editor of the Frederick Press, Joe Miller, covered the case and apparently saw an opportunity for a funny “editorial.” The newspaper’s next issue after the dismissal contained the very well written editorial that was hilarious to almost everyone. The title of the editorial was, “CROAK! Judge’s Ruling Unpopular with County Bullfrog Population,”and it appeared on the front page of the newspaper. In a humorous way, the editorial “critiqued” my ruling.

Because of the high quality of Joe’s editorial and its humorous nature, it was picked up by all of the major wire services and published in newspapers around the nation. For several months, I received calls and letters from friends around the country about my most famous case. Almost everywhere I went, someone would ask me about the Tillman County Frog Case. One of my daughters even gave me an “amphibian” tie to commemorate the case.

For a time, I even gave thought to directing that my obituary should contain no reference to my judicial career, lest I should be forever remembered as the judge who presided over the Tillman County Frog Case!

Judge Barnett is associate district judge in Tillman County.