James E. Edmondson


James E. Edmondson is a justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. He was appointed to the Court's District 7 seat by Governor Brad Henry in 2003.

Early life

He graduated from Central High School in Muskogee, Oklahoma, before attending Northeastern State University. Following graduation from NSU in 1967, he served in the United States Navy for two years. He earned his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1973. From 1976 to 1978, he served as an Assistant District Attorney in Muskogee County, Oklahoma. From 1978 to 1981, he served in the U.S. Attorney's office in Muskogee, Oklahoma, as Assistant United States Attorney, and later Acting U.S. Attorney. From 1981 to 1983, he was a Partner in the Edmondson Law Firm along with his brother, Drew Edmondson.

Judge

In 1983, he was appointed as Judge for the 15th state Judicial District and served in that post until his appointment to the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

Personal life

Edmondson was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and is the son of Ed Edmondson, a former U.S. Congressman, and June Edmondson, a nephew of former U.S. Senator and Oklahoma Governor J. Howard Edmondson, and the brother of former Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson.
He is married to Suzanne Rumler Edmondson and has two children. His daughter Sarah Edmondson was given a 35-year prison sentence for her role in a crime spree, allegedly inspired by the movie Natural Born Killers, with her boyfriend which included a murder and robbery in Mississippi, and a robbery and attempted murder in Louisiana. Sarah Edmondson has been released on parole as of May 20, 2010 and is serving her parole in Oklahoma which is set to end on June 1, 2025.