Okla. Dems Oppose Bill Calling for Senate Approval of Work Comp Judges

State Senate confirmation of judges in Oklahoma’s workers’ compensation system would be required under legislation approved by the state House of Representatives that was quickly condemned by a spokesman for Gov. Brad Henry, who appoints the state’s workers’ comp judges.

The measure, passed on a 62-36 vote, seeks a vote of the people on a proposed constitutional amendment that would require gubernatorial appointments to the Workers’ Compensation Court to be approved by the Senate before the judges can take their seats.

Supporters say the process would increase the accountability of workers’ comp judges and mimic Senate confirmation required of presidential judicial appointments at the federal level. But Henry’s communications director, Paul Sund, said the federal process is characterized by partisan political fights and gridlock.

Sund said partisanship surrounding the federal process has left dozens of judges unconfirmed in the past and the administration of justice hampered.

The bill’s author, Rep. Dan Sullivan, R-Tulsa, said workers’ compensation judges have no accountability to the people they are supposed to serve. Currently, district court judges are elected and Civil and Criminal Appeals Court judges and Supreme Court justices all appear on a retention ballot at the end of their appointed term.

Opponents say the bill would bring partisanship into the appointment process and require judicial nominees of the Democratic governor to be scrutinized by the Republican-controlled Senate.

Rep. Richard Morrissette, D-Oklahoma City, said the issue is political, and that some judges currently sitting on the workers’ comp bench are not well liked by leaders in business and industry because of the rulings they have handed down favoring injured workers.

Rep. Scott Inman, D-Oklahoma City, said the measure is designed to help businesses and insurance companies, not injured workers.

Inman said Senate confirmation would inject partisanship into the process of nominating judges and suggested that they instead be subject to retention ballots or competitive elections.

The measure is House Joint Resolution 1041