The Oklahoma Supreme Court will have a vacant seat in January, and a handful of people hope to fill the position, including a top aide to Attorney General Scott Pruitt.
Oklahoma’s Solicitor General Patrick Wyrick is one of four people up for the Supreme Court seat held retiring Justice Steven Taylor. Wyrick is the chief litigator in the AG’s office and he leads the federalism unit, which has sued the government on environmental and other matters, The Journal Record’s Dale Denwalt reports:
Wyrick’s hometown is listed as Atoka. Prospective justices must be registered to vote in the soon-to-be-vacant Supreme Court judicial district, which encompasses much of southeastern Oklahoma. According to an online profile, Wyrick attended law school until 2007. After clerking in federal court for a year, he worked for an Oklahoma City law firm until 2011 when Pruitt hired him. Wyrick did not return a phone call requesting comment.
The other candidates are all district judges in southeastern Oklahoma, as well: Mark Campbell, Jack Coppedge and Jonathan Sullivan.
They all have to be vetted and interviewed by the Judicial Nominating Commission, which is a process that could extend into next year.
Although there are four names under consideration, only three will be submitted to Gov. Mary Fallin. She likely won’t have her list until early next year after the candidates each pass a background check and interview with the JNC. The vacancy becomes effective Dec. 31. Taylor’s successor will be the first high-profile use of the JNC since efforts to restructure its duties gained steam last legislative session. That bill would have eliminated most of the JNC’s authority to narrow the list. Instead of giving the governor three names, the JNC would have to hand over a list of all qualified applicants for the governor to pick from. Despite a late push in the final weeks of the session, however, the bill failed to advance.
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