The City of OKC sends this information as posted below:
Yesterday, former Oklahoma State Senator Paula Kay Floyd and Gunner Briscoe were sworn in as Oklahoma City’s newest municipal judges by Presiding Judge Donald O. Kiffin. The swearing-in ceremony was held at the beginning of the August 27 City Council Meeting.
Floyd and Briscoe replace Judge Kendal Huber Tawwater and former Presiding Judge Philippa James, who retired on June 30 after 28 years of service with the Oklahoma City Municipal Court. Floyd served as a special municipal judge for OKC Municipal Court from 1990 to 2011.
Floyd and Briscoe will serve alongside the newly appointed Presiding Judge Donald O. Kiffin and Judge Edward D. Hasbrook.
“Municipal Judges play a pivotal role in maintaining public trust and confidence in our city’s justice system,” Ward 8 Councilman Mark Stonecipher said. “These two judges were chosen not only for their integrity but also for their calm, patient, and courteous demeanor, which will leave a lasting positive impression on everyone who comes to court. On behalf of the Judiciary Committee, we welcome Gunner Briscoe and Kay Floyd to Oklahoma City Municipal Court.”
Municipal judges oversee cases involving alleged violations of municipal code, including traffic tickets, residential code enforcement, criminal offenses and more.
About Kay Floyd
Floyd was elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 2012 and to her first term in the Oklahoma Senate in 2014. Before serving in the legislature, Floyd served as an assistant attorney general, deputy executive director for the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission, and a Special Municipal Judge for Oklahoma City. Floyd also served 22 years as an Administrative Law Judge for the state.
Floyd was one of the youngest women in Oklahoma history to receive a judicial appointment and was the first woman to lead a caucus in the Oklahoma Senate. She received a bachelor’s degree and two minor degrees from Oklahoma State University and a law degree from the University of Oklahoma.
“My previous experience in the courts was very beneficial to me as I worked in the State House and Senate, and I look forward to serving the people of Oklahoma City,” Floyd said. “It is an honor to return to the judiciary.”
About Gunner Briscoe
Briscoe worked briefly as a private attorney at Wirth Law Office and as an Assistant General Counsel at the Oklahoma State Department of Health. The majority of his career has been at the Oklahoma County Public Defender’s Office. While there, he defended the constitutional rights of criminal defendants at all stages of proceedings in both misdemeanor and felony cases. Later, he joined the appellate team most notably arguing a Death Penalty appeal to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals.
He received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy with honors from Oklahoma Baptist University and a law degree from Oklahoma City University.
“I am extremely honored and humbled by this appointment to the Oklahoma City Municipal Criminal Court of Record,” Gunner said. “I will endeavor to always be worthy of the trust placed in me by the City Council in fairly and justly upholding the rule of law in the City to all litigants that come before me. I look forward to working with the Court to ensure an even-handed administration of justice in the coming years.”
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