Dana Lynn Kuehn (born January 1, 1971) is an American attorney and judge from

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

who has served on the

Supreme Court of Oklahoma The Supreme Court of Oklahoma is a court of appeal for non-criminal cases, one of the two highest judicial bodies in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, and leads the judiciary of Oklahoma, the judicial branch of the government of Oklahoma.

since 2021; she was appointed by Governor

Kevin Stitt John Kevin Stitt (born December 28, 1972) is an American businessman and politician serving as the 28th governor of Oklahoma. A member of the Republican Party, he began his first term as governor in January 2019 and was reelected to a second t ...

on July 26, 2021. Kuehn had previously been a

Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals is one of the two highest judicial bodies in the U.S. state of Oklahoma and is part of the Oklahoma Court System, the judicial branch of the Oklahoma state government.

Judge after her appointment by the

Governor of Oklahoma The governor of Oklahoma is the head of government of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Under the Oklahoma Constitution, the governor serves as the head of the Oklahoma Executive (government), executive branch, of the government of Oklahoma. The gove ...

Mary Fallin Mary Fallin (; née Copeland; born December 9, 1954) is an American politician who served as the 27th governor of Oklahoma from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, she was elected in 2010 and reelected in 2014. She was the first and s ...

on October 2, 2017. Kuehn is the first woman to serve on both of the state's high courts, the

Oklahoma Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Oklahoma is a court of appeal for non-criminal cases, one of the two highest judicial bodies in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, and leads the judiciary of Oklahoma, the judicial branch of the government of Oklahoma.

and the

Education

Kuehn is a graduate of

Jenks High School Jenks High School is a secondary school located within Tulsa County in Jenks, Oklahoma, United States. It serves students from the town of Jenks and students from the south side of the city of Tulsa. The high school has over 2,800 students in grad ...

, Class of 1989. She attended

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

(OSU), where she earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

in 1993. She earned a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree from the

University of Tulsa College of Law The University of Tulsa College of Law is the law school of the private University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Oklahoma. For 2021, ''U.S. News & World Report'' ranked the University of Tulsa College of Law at No. 111 among all law schools in the United S ...

in 1996.

Early legal career

From 1996 to 1999 Kuehn worked for the

Tulsa County Tulsa County is located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 669,279, making it the second-most populous county in Oklahoma, behind only Oklahoma County. Its county seat and largest city is Tulsa, the secon ...

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

's office. After leaving the

's office, she became an associate with the Steidley & Neal law firm from 1999 to 2000. Kuehn returned to the

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

's office for 2002 through 2006. In 2001, Kuehn became an adjunct professor at the

, and still continues this activity. She taught Juvenile Law and Evidence Workshop at the

. She also has served as president of the Alumni Board."TU Law alumna Judge Dana Kuehn appointed to Court of Criminal Appeals." University of Tulsa College of Law. October 20, 2017.
Accessed August 17, 2019.

State court service

State district judge service

In 2006, she was elected to serve as Associate District Judge for

, she provided over both criminal and civil dockets. From 2010 to 2012 she served as the Chief of the Civil Division at Tulsa County. In 2013, while serving as Associate District Judge for

, one of her cases from

rose to the

. The

appellate court A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...

modified the sentence given to

defendant In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case. Terminology varies from one jurisdic ...

, Victor Cornell Miller from a

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

sentence to a

life without parole Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

sentence. As a result, Miller was not

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

.Redman, Jordan. "2018 Overview of Judge Retention on Oklahoma Ballot." CAIR Oklahoma. October 30, 2018.
Accessed August 18, 2019.

Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals

On October 2, 2017, she was appointed as Judge of the

by Governor

to fill the unexpired Judicial District No. 1 term of Judge Clancy Smith. She was then later Vice-Presiding Judge of the Court and Presiding Judge of the Court."Dana Kuehn, Vice Presiding Judge, District No. 1." Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. January 2, 2018.
Accessed August 17, 2019.

Oklahoma Supreme Court

On July 26, 2021, Kuehn was appointed to the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

to fill the vacancy left by

Tom Colbert Tom Colbert (born December 30, 1949) is a former Associate Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. He was appointed to the Court's District 6 seat in 2004, by Governor Brad Henry, becoming the first African-American to serve on the court. On Jan ...

's retirement.

Personal life

Dana Kuehn is married to Patrick Kuehn and together they have four children. She attends Kirk of the Hills

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

Church.

Electoral history

Awards and honors

* Outstanding Junior Alumnae of the

Alumnae Board, unknown date * Mona Salyer Lambird Spotlight Award, 2016. *

Hall of Fame inductee, 2017 . * W. Thomas Coffman Award for Community Service, 2017. * American Board of Trial Advocates 2017 Judge of the Year for the State of Oklahoma.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuehn, Dana 1971 births 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American women lawyers 21st-century American judges American Presbyterians Justices of the Oklahoma Supreme Court Living people Oklahoma lawyers Oklahoma Republicans Oklahoma state court judges Oklahoma State University alumni People from Tulsa, Oklahoma University of Tulsa College of Law alumni University of Tulsa College of Law faculty 21st-century American women judges