Douglas Combs

Douglas L. Combs is currently serving as Chief Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court for 2017 and 2018. He received his Juris Doctorate degree from Oklahoma City University in 1976. Following admission to the Oklahoma Bar Association in 1976, Combs served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Oklahoma. In 1977 he entered private practice as an associate with the firm of Henry, West and Sill. Combs remained in private practice as an associate and then a partner in the firm of Henry, West, Sill, Combs and Henry until 1982, when he opened his own law office in Shawnee.
Combs began his judicial career in January 1995 as a Special Judge for the Twenty-third Judicial District, serving both Pottawatomie and Lincoln Counties. Combs presided over the Drug Court docket while a special judge, and subsequently as district judge until his appointment to the Supreme Court. He was first elected without opposition to District Judge in November 2002, and again without opposition in 2006. He served eight years as District Judge for the Twenty-third Judicial District. Combs was appointed to serve as a Supreme Court Justice for District 8 on January 1, 2010.
While a member of the judiciary, Combs has served as Presiding Judge for the North Central Judicial District and Chief Judge of the Twenty-third Judicial District. He has been active in the Oklahoma Judicial Conference, serving on the Executive Board as both a Special Judge and District Judge. He has served on the Legislative Committee for the Judicial Conference for more than 10 years. Combs served as President of the Judicial Conference in 2009. He currently serves as the Supreme Court liaison to the Judicial Conference Executive Board. He has been a member of the Oklahoma Court on the Judiciary, Appellate Division from 2011 to the present.