Judge Thornbrugh Seeks Third Term

By Local Report    
Saturday, 06 May 2006
Tulsa County District Judge Tom Thornbrugh announced Friday he will seek re-election this fall for a third four-year term. Thornbrugh was appointed to the Tulsa County District Court bench in March 1999, by Gov. Frank Keating to fill the seat vacated by former District Judge Cliff Hopper. He has been elected twice without opposition.

Judge Thornbrugh represents Office 8 of the 14th Judicial District covering Tulsa and Pawnee counties. Office 8 encompasses central and western Tulsa County and is bordered on the east by Lewis Avenue. This district includes the cities of Tulsa, Jenks, Sand Springs, and Glenpool.

Judge Thornbrugh, 59, was in private practice in Tulsa for more than 20 years prior to his appointment to the bench.  He had also served for more than a decade as prosecuting attorney for the city of Bixby and was an alternate municipal court judge for the city of Tulsa.

A graduate of Kansas State College in Emporia, KS, Judge Thornbrugh served as a signal corps officer in the Vietnam War and was awarded a Bronze Star for his service at the far northern outpost of Khe Sanh during the 1971 invasion of Laos. After the war, Judge Thornbrugh attended the University of Tulsa College Of Law, where he received a juris doctorate degree. Following law school, Judge Thornbrugh served on the Washington, D.C., staff of U.S. Senator Dewey F. Bartlett.

Since taking the bench, Judge Thornbrugh has managed dockets in the civil and felony criminal trial divisions and conducted more than 200 jury trials.  In his last assignment, he presided over a split docket that contained both civil and criminal cases at the same time. He has served as chief of the civil trial division and is currently serving as chief judge for the criminal felony division where he has taken an active role in helping the trial division cope with an extraordinary number of trials involving violent murder and gang related homicides.

Judge Thornbrugh has been an active participant in the Oklahoma Judicial Conference where he is the chairman of the State Judicial Education Committee and a member of the Conference Executive Committee.  Last year, Judge Thornbrugh wrote a grant proposal to the Oklahoma Highway Traffic Safety Commission that resulted in an award of $80,000 to fund a statewide judicial workshop addressing issues involving impaired driving violations in Oklahoma.

Judge Thornbrugh is married to Dr. Jean L. Thornbrugh who is the Dean of the College for Working Adults for St. Gregory's University. They have five adult children and five grandchildren.

Last Updated ( Saturday, 06 May 2006 )