Deborah Barnes (sometimes written as Deborah Browers Barnes) is a judge at the

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 intermediate appellate court in the state of

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. She was appointed by Governor

Brad Henry Charles Bradford Henry (born July 10, 1963) is an American lawyer and politician who was the 26th governor of Oklahoma from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected governor in 2002. Henry won re-election for a second term ...

and her retention date was July 9, 2008. She has since won two retention votes in 2010 and 2014, and her next retention vote is scheduled for January 10, 2021.

Legal career

Judge Barnes was a staff attorney for former state Supreme Court Justice Ralph Hodges from 1985 to 1989 and subsequently worked in civil litigation, administrative law, and commercial and business law. During her first year on the court, she taught and mentored students in the oil and gas law course she taught for the University of Tulsa business school.Schaefer, Ralph, "Judge Deborah Barnes wins TCBA's mentoring award. ''Tulsa Business & Legal World''. September 18, 2017.
Accessed May 4, 2018. Judge Barnes was a vice president, corporate secretary and associate general counsel at Oneok Inc. in Tulsa from 1997 until 2001. Since 2002, she has worked in private practice at Crutchmer, Browers & Barnes. Appointed to the Appeals Court by Governor Brad Henry, she was sworn into office on July 8, 2008. In the election of 2010, she faced a retention vote, which she won with a 62.0 percent favorable rating. In 2014, she received a 64.11 percent favorable vote."Deborah Barnes (Oklahoma)." Ballotpedia.
Accessed May 4, 2018.

Education

She received her bachelor's degree from the University of Oklahoma and her

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 in 1983, from Oklahoma City University School of Law, where she graduated first in her class.

Personal life

Judge Barnes is a breast cancer survivor. She was sworn into the court by her father-in-law, former state Supreme Court Justice Don Barnes. She is married to Ron Barnes, and they have a son named Grayson. Ron's grandfather, Maurice H. Merrill, was a law professor at the University of Oklahoma. Deborah and Ron lived at the Merrill house for the first three years of their married life.

Awards

Judge Barnes was awarded the James C. Lang Mentoring Award by the Tulsa County Bar Association.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Deborah Living people Oklahoma state court judges University of Oklahoma alumni Oklahoma City University School of Law alumni American women judges Oneok Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women lawyers 21st-century American lawyers