PURCELL — Three attorneys are vying for the District Judge seat being vacated by retiring Judge Candace Blaylock.
John A. Mantooth, Edward T. Tillery and Greg Dixon are all seeking the District 21 post. The position covers McClain, Garvin and Cleveland counties and presides over cases in the courts in Purcell and Pauls Valley.
Residency in McClain County or Garvin County is required. Blaylock has served the district since 1995.
Voters in all three counties will vote on the position July 27. If one candidate fails to receive more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two candidates will be on the Nov. 2 ballot.
Mantooth, a lifelong McClain County resident, has practiced law there since 1973. He has served as a municipal judge for Lexington and Purcell. He is a retired colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve.
He has served as chairman of the Purcell Municipal Hospital Board, president of the Purcell Rotary Club and has served on the Purcell Public Schools Foundation.
“I want to bring fairness, honor, integrity and respect for all people who come to court. My experience, hard work and dedication to justice are things I can use to serve the people and attorneys who come into my court,” Mantooth said. “All people deserve consideration by an experienced trial lawyer and judge.”
Mantooth joined the Oklahoma Army National Guard in 1969. After law school, he was commissioned as an Army Reserve Judge Advocate Officer and has served various commands. He volunteered to serve in Afghanistan and Southeast Asia where he served as staff judge advocate for the U.S. Army command.
He also participated in the adoption of the Afghan constitution in 2004 and was co-author of their criminal justice procedure code. He received the Bronze Star and Legion of Merit Award for his service there.
John’s wife, Dr. Robin Mantooth, is an emergency medicine physician at Norman Regional Hospital and Moore Medical Center.
Tillery, a Garvin County native, has practiced law from his office in Pauls Valley for more than 25 years. He has a 1974 BA in business administration from OSU and received his law degree from OU in 1984. He is a veteran of the Vietnam War and was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Good Conduct Medal and Bronze Star Medal for his service in the U.S. Army from 1970 to 1971.
Ed and Kathleen have been married 31 years and make their home five miles west of Pauls Valley. They have four children. In addition to their four children, the Tillerys serve as “host parents” for exchange students sponsored by the Rotary Club. In recent years they have shared their home with students from Finland, Belgium, Thailand, France, Germany, Krygyzstan and Venezuela.
For the past 23 years, Ed and Kathy have sponsored the Garvin County Youth Soccer League. The soccer program has grown from 35 children in 1987 to more than 350 this past season. He has served as a member of the Whitebead School Board for the past 15 years and serves as a director of the Oklahoma State School Board Association.
“I’m familiar with the judicial process and, with the knowledge gained from the diversity of my practice and life lessons learned over the past 60 years, I feel that I have a well rounded understanding and perspective of the law,” Tillery said. “I have worked hard to build my practice and, over the years, many of my clients have become good friends. My decision to run for the office of District Judge was not made lightly. The thought of giving up my practice has caused me many sleepless nights. But, having given it a lot of thought, I know that I will bring to the court the same ‘hard work’ ethic utilized to build and grow my law practice. I have worked hard to build my practice and I will work equally hard as your district judge.”
Dixon is a graduate of Checotah High School and played football at OU from 1985 to 1990. He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1990 and was a 1994 OU College of Law graduate.
He and his wife, Gina, have three children. Jordan attends OU, Hannah is a sophomore at Purcell High School and Eli is a sixth-grader at Purcell.
Dixon served as a prosecutor in District 21 for more than four years and earlier worked in Macintosh County as an assistant district attorney. He was also a staff attorney for the state District Attorney Council.
In 2003 he joined in private practice with Jayne Montgomery of Purcell. His work is a general law practice with primary emphasis in family, criminal, real property, probate and estate planning.
He is a past president of the Heart of Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce, past president of the Purcell Rotary Club and is a board member for the Norman Alcohol Information Center. He attends the Purcell First Baptist Church.
Dixon said he comes from a family of schoolteachers and didn’t have much interaction with lawyers until he attended the OU College of Law.
“After graduating from law school, the district judges’ position was something that really impressed me. I really respected the way that the they had the ability to make a difference in people’s lives.”
Dixon said he likes the idea of treating people fairly and being in a position that is not political in nature.
“I really respect the judges,” he said. “I really do.”
