In Tuesday's primary election, three Democrats are vying for the post. They are Wes Owens, 50, a Wagoner attorney; Jerry S. Moore, 45, a Tahlequah attorney, and Richard Gray, 45, of Wagoner, the incumbent. If no one candidate gets a majority of the votes cast, then the two candidates with the most votes will have to face off again in the runoff election primary election on Aug. 22. The winner of that election will be on the Nov. 7 general election ballot.
The Republicans seeking a spot on that ballot are Brian J. Kuester, 38, of Broken Arrow and Richard D. Osburn, 38, of Tahlequah. Since only two are seeking the Republican nomination on the primary ballot, the winner of the primary election will be on the November ballot.
A third man has also joined the race as an independent, Monte W. Strout, 62, of Tahlequah, will be on the November ballot as a district attorney candidate. He formerly served with Gray as Gray's first assistant district attorney.
Wes Owens
Wes Owens, 50, a Wagoner attorney, received his juris doctorate degree from the University of Tulsa College of Law where he was a member of the academic international legal fraternity, Phi Delta Phi. He obtained his bachelor of science degree in criminal justice, with academic honors, from Northeastern State University (NSU) in Tahlequah. While attending NSU, Owens was elected student senate representative for the criminal justice fraternity, Lambda Alpha Epsilon.
Owens said he has experience with supervision and administration duties of government offices and experience with law enforcement, having served in the 1980s as undersheriff and second in command to the Wagoner County Sheriff's Department during the administration of former Sheriff Elmer Shepherd.
Owens also served with the rank of lieutenant, third in command, of the Mayes County Sheriff's Department under former Mayes County Sheriff Paul Smith.
Since becoming an attorney, Owens assisted with training law enforcement officers as a volunteer with the Wagoner County Sheriff's Department under Sheriff Johnny Cannon. Owens also served as a volunteer instructor for NSU courses on state-required certifications training for reserve police and reserve sheriff deputies as required by the Council for Law Enforcement Education and Training, also known as CLEET.
Owens has lived in Wagoner for about 21 years, out of the past 31 years.
He is a member of the Oklahoma Trial Lawyer's Association and presently serves as a volunteer on the Graduated Sanctions Counsel, which works with the court system, the office of juvenile affairs, and juvenile offenders and the parents of at-risk juveniles in Wagoner County.
Owens is a U.S. Army veteran and served with the First (Air) Cavalry Division. He also served as former unit administrator of Company B, 120th Engineer Battalion with the Oklahoma Army National Guard unit in Wagoner.
Owens has served as a Cubmaster for both Cub Scouting Packs 627 and 637.
He has maintained his law office, practice and home in Wagoner for several years after working as a partner with his brother, Victor Owens, also of Wagoner, as the law firm of Owens and Owens in Tulsa.
Richard Gray was elected as district attorney for Adair, Cherokee, Sequoyah and Wagoner counties in 2002. He assumed the duties of district attorney on Jan. 6, 2003.
"I am proud of the job I have done for the last three years," Gray said. "I have gained valuable experience that will make my next term as district attorney even more successful."
Gray said he accomplished many of the goals he set, including increasing the number of cases tried by juries. During his time in office, he has obtained jury verdicts against methamphetamine manufacturing and juries have sentenced four murderers to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Gray said.
He added, "I would like to continue the effective prosecution that I have started."
Gray said he has also stepped up the efforts of the district attorney's office to collect child support payments. Since 2003, district attorney investigators have arrested over 200 defendants on child support warrants alone, within a 13-month period.
"During the last quarter of 2005, more than $1 million was collected for back child support for the children of this district," Gray said.
Gray listed a variety of other accomplishments during his term, including over 300 arrests by district attorney investigators for non-payment of bogus checks and restitution; an increase in staff throughout District 27; and programs have been established that have increased funds to effectively serve the citizens of the district.
While Gray has accomplished many of his goals during his first term as district attorney, he said that knows there is more work to be done.
"I will be more proactive during my next term," Gray said. "My staff has already begun to work on programs, such as a juvenile drug court, that will benefit the youth of my district and will prevent future crime."
He said that he will also look to increase the number of investigators, a plan he says will benefit the local law enforcement as well as the public.
"I have enjoyed serving the citizens of Adair, Cherokee, Sequoyah and Wagoner counties," Gray said. "I look forward to serving them another four years."
Jerry Moore of Tahlequah served as assistant district attorney for 10 years.
He is currently a partner with the Denton Law Firm in Tahlequah.
Moore said he believes his experience within the office he is seeking is important. His goals are to increase cooperation between the district attorney's office and other offices that have traditionally worked well with the district attorney and to perform drug prosecution so that offenders will not be released.
Moore said, "My record, in everything I've done, shows that I am willing to work hard and it will be no different when I become district attorney. I believe there are a lot of people in the district who know me or know of me who will tell you I am a decent guy. I think a decent guy can win this election."
Moore obtained his juris doctorate at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. Upon graduation he was in private practice with the firm of Baker and Baker for four years. While in private practice Moore served the Cherokee County Bar Association as vice president and as president. In January of 1995 he accepted an appointment as an assistant district attorney for then District Attorney Dianne Barker Harrold.
Moore has also been recognized for his services as an instructor for Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training on a number of occasions within the four-county district. He has served as an instructor in Continuing Legal Education for Oklahoma District Attorney's Association and as required by the Oklahoma Bar Association; and has been recognized for his work in providing instruction on police report writing for law enforcement officers.
As assistant district attorney, Moore served as a prosecutor and as the chief of the District's Civil Division successfully trying jury cases in all four counties. He served in the district attorney's office as legal counsel for and supervising attorney with the District 27 Bogus Check Restitution program.
Moore is licensed to practice in all three federal district courts in Oklahoma, and to practice in the Cherokee and Muscogee Nation Tribal Courts. He is one of the few attorneys in the area who has presented oral argument before the Oklahoma Supreme Court, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals and appeals for U.S. Court of the 10th Circuit in Denver, Colo.
Brian J. Kuester
Brian J. Kuester, a Tulsa prosecutor, a former police officer and current assistant district attorney in Tulsa County, is running for the office of District 27 district attorney as a Republican.
Kuester has been an assistant district attorney for Tulsa County since 2003. "During that time I successfully prosecuted felony crimes ranging from manufacturing methamphetamine to murder," he said.
Kuester has served on the Crimes Against Children Team while in the district attorney's office, and has been involved in the prosecution of crimes against children such as sexual abuse, neglect and murder.
Kuester said he has also served as the drug liaison between local law enforcement officers and the district attorney's drug prosecution team.
Prior to entering law school, Kuester was a police officer for seven years in Fulton, Mo., and Springfield, Mo. During those years he served as a sergeant, lieutenant, patrol officer and special response team officer. After serving the public in law enforcement, Kuester said he wanted to pursue another branch of criminal justice. He attended the University Of Tulsa Law School and graduated in 2000 with honors.
Before becoming a criminal prosecutor Kuester practiced law for three years in civil litigation for a Tulsa firm
Kuester is a member of the National District Attorney's Association and the Oklahoma Bar Association.
He said he hopes to make a positive change in District 27.
"My Christian beliefs and integrity are my compass for right and wrong. I am a prosecutor not a politician, therefore, I will make right decisions for the right reasons," Kuester said. He currently resides in Broken Arrow in Wagoner County with his wife Laura, and their two children. He and his family are active members at the Church at Battle Creek where he serves on the LIFE ministries committee, is a Dynamic Marriage course facilitator, and is involved in the children's ministry.
Richard Osburn, 38, of Tahlequah is a Cherokee Nation prosecutor and will also be on the Republican primary ballot.
Since 2000, Osburn has been a prosecutor with the Cherokee Nation handling drug, domestic violence, weapons and bogus check cases. He also has experience in abused and neglected child cases, and he is one of three people developing a child support enforcement program for the tribe.
During his time as a prosecutor, Osburn has completed three national prosecutor courses offered by the National College of District Attorneys. Two of the courses, Successful Trial Strategies and Trial Advocacy II, teach prosecutors how to effectively prosecute jury trials. The third course, the Experienced Prosecutor Course, teaches career prosecutors how to manage trials and supervise assistant prosecutors.
"My one goal in going to law school was to be a prosecutor. I do not believe any other candidate in the race has had the specialized prosecutor training that I have had. I am dedicated to prosecuting criminals and have never, and will never, work as a criminal defense attorney. I believe the justice system should treat defendants fairly, regardless of social status or ability to hire their own attorneys. I believe punishment should fit the crime - leniency where deserved and severe punishment instead of slap on the wrist when innocent people are hurt or killed. The day I am elected district attorney, the good 'ol boy system will end," he said.
After graduation in 1986 from Tahlequah High School, Osburn enlisted in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. He later transferred to the Naval ROTC unit at the University of Oklahoma (OU) at Norman. In May 1990, Osburn received a bachelor of arts degree in Spanish and was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy.
After being honorably discharged from the Navy, Osburn returned to Oklahoma and earned his teaching credentials He taught high school Spanish and was a soccer coach for two years.
In 1997, Osburn entered the OU law school. While there, he interned with the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.
In 2000, Osburn returned to Tahlequah and has been a prosecutor with the Cherokee Nation for six years.
Osburn can be contacted at www.RichardOsburn.com where his biography and resume are posted and where questions can be asked.
