Judge Flanagan to Chair Supreme Court Task Force

The Supreme Court of Oklahoma has created the Task Force on the Uniform Representation of Children and Parents in Cases involving Abuse and Neglect. The Task Force is charged with determining models of legal representation conducted pursuant to the Oklahoma Children’s Code, to assess training, compensation, practice standards, and to make recommendations on the development of rules and procedures, to address uniform compensation and evaluation processes, training requirements, and improving appellate advocacy, as well as other related issues in order to protect the rights of children and parents and improve outcomes.

The task Force will be chaired by the Honorable Michael C. Flanagan, Associate District Judge of Cotton County, and will have the following voting members:

Robert A. Ravitz, Chief Public Defender of Oklahoma City; Corbin C. Brewster, Chief Public Defender, Tulsa County; Ronald Baze, Oklahoma DHS, General Counsel; Donna Glandon, Attorney, Lawton, Oklahoma; Honorable Rebecca Gore, Associate District Judge, Mayes County; Lisa Bohannon, Attorney, Pryor, Oklahoma; Mark Morrison, Attorney, Durant, Oklahoma; Holly Iker, Attorney, Norman, Oklahoma; Tsinena Thompson, Chairperson, OBA Juvenile Law Section; Michael Figgins, Executive Director, Legal Aid of Oklahoma; Gwendolyn Clegg, Attorney, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Timothy R. Beebe, Attorney, Enid, Oklahoma.

To assist the Task Force, the following persons will serve as non-voting members:

Sharon Hsieh, Deputy General Counsel, Administrative Office of the Courts; Honorable Doris Fransein, (Ret.) Consultant; Felice Hamilton, Court Improvement Program Director; Casey Family Program support staff; and, Julie Rorie, Attorney, Oklahoma Supreme Court.

Judge Flanagan is also attending the National Judicial Leadership Summit on Child Welfare conducted by the Conference of Chief Justices and State Court Administrators on September 24-25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In addition to Judge Flanagan, other members of Oklahoma’s eight member team are Sharon Hsieh, Jari Askins – Oklahoma Administrative Director of the Courts, Gwendolyn Clegg, Timothy Beebe, Deb Shropshire – Oklahoma Director of Child Welfare, and Bonnie Clift – Assistant General Counsel, Children Services and Child Care Licensing.