News Release, October 21, 2020 – Voters wanting to know more about the eight judges on the statewide judicial retention ballot can find background information for all the judges on one website, www.courtfacts.org. Created by the Oklahoma Bar Association, the website offers biographies and photos of the judges, plus an explanation of how the merit retention system works.

OBA President Susan Shields of Oklahoma City said, “Our intent is to provide voters accurate, nonbiased information about the appellate judges so when casting their votes, they can decide if the judges should be retained in office. We created this website as a community service to ensure a strong legal system that provides equal justice for all.”

On the statewide ballot are:

• Supreme Court Justice Tom Colbert
• Supreme Court Justice Richard Darby
• Supreme Court Justice Matthew John Kane IV
• Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Robert L. Hudson
• Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Gary L. Lumpkin
• Court of Civil Appeals Judges Deborah B. Barnes
• Court of Civil Appeals W. Keith Rapp
• Court of Civil Appeals Jane P. Wiseman.

Courtfacts.org also provides links to court opinions authored by those on the ballot and information about Oklahoma’s judicial selection process for appellate justices and judges utilizing a nonpartisan 15-member Judicial Nominating Commission and an overview of the state’s court system.

The OBA does not endorse any candidate and provides this information as a public service.

 The 18,000-member Oklahoma Bar Association, headquartered in Oklahoma City, was created by the Oklahoma Supreme Court to advance the administration of justice and to foster and maintain learning, integrity, competence, public service and high standards of conduct among Oklahoma’s legal community.