Bill LaFortune
William LaFortune is an American politician who has served as a district judge for Tulsa County, Oklahoma, since 2015. He previously served as the 37th Mayor of Tulsa from 2002 to 2006 and as the Tulsa County district attorney from 1995 to 1998.
Family and education
LaFortune's grandfather, Joseph Aloysius LaFortune, was an oil executive and a noted philanthropist in Tulsa. His uncle, Robert J. LaFortune, was mayor of Tulsa from 1970 to 1978. He attended Cascia Hall Preparatory School, the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the University of Tulsa College of Law.LaFortune's nephew, G. T. Bynum, ran for mayor of Tulsa in 2016 and was elected to begin the role that December.
History in Tulsa Politics
Bill LaFortune served as district attorney of Tulsa County, as a special judge for Tulsa County, and as Assistant Attorney General for the state of Oklahoma. Running as a Republican, he was elected mayor in 2002, but he was unsuccessful in his bid for re-election on April 5, 2006 when he lost to his Democratic opponent, former Oklahoma Secretary of Commerce and Tourism, Kathy Taylor.Mayor, City of Tulsa, 2002-2006
While a partner at the prestigious Tulsa law firm of Norman Wohlgemuth Chandler and Dowdell, Tulsa's longtime Mayor Susan Savage announced she would be retiring at the end of her current term, thereby creating a vacancy in the Mayor's office in 2002. LaFortune, with a long career of public service and community involvement, ran for the office against several other contenders. Running as a Republican, he won decisively in both the primary and general elections.Vision 2025
Despite the economic downturn, LaFortune was able to put together a county-wide coalition of elected officials, business leaders and everyday citizens to prepare a long overdue capital improvements plan. The result of this unprecedented effort was “Vision 2025”, a four-part $885 million ballot initiative which was passed overwhelmingly by Tulsa County voters in September 2003. LaFortune was the point person for the successful campaign. Over 34 job incentives and capital improvement projects were funded through Vision 2025, including significant new medical clinics at the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa and in Tulsa's under-served communities, a new engineering facility at Oklahoma State University's Tulsa Campus, a new administration building at Langston University's Tulsa Campus, books and updated technology for Tulsa's school children, and capital improvements at many Tulsa County smaller municipalities.BOK Center
The flagship project of Vision 2025, however was an 18,000 seat multi-purpose event center/arena, later named as the BOK Center. Since its completion in 2008, the BOK Center has consistently ranked in the nation's top arenas for tickets sales, hosting the biggest names in the entertainment world. LaFortune personally selected world-renowned architect Cesar Pelli as the architect for the venue and his outstanding achievement that is now the BOK Center. In addition to being showered with numerous honors, the arena was recognized as the top venue in the country by the International Entertainment Buyers Association in October 2016.District Judge, 14th Judicial District, State of Oklahoma, 2015 – present
Bill LaFortune was elected to a four-year term as District Judge for the 14th Judicial District of the State of Oklahoma in 2014. He ran unopposed for the office and succeeded Tom Gillert. He ran unopposed in the non-partisan race. Judge LaFortune brought his legacy of public service to the bench in 2015. He has presided over a full-time criminal felony docket since that time. He has handled approximately 15,000 felony case docket settings over that period. He has also presided over approximately 60 felony jury trials, including trials of multiple defendants. Most of these trials involved either first degree murder, rape, armed robbery or child abuse charges. Even more importantly, in cases resulting in conviction and were subsequently appealed, Judge LaFortune has been consistently affirmed by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. He was also affirmed, and new law was made, as to the application of the Uniform Interstate Detainers Act. His decisions in post-conviction relief cases have also been consistently affirmed. Administratively, Judge LaFortune was elected by his fellow criminal division judges as Chief of the Criminal Division within just his first year of taking office. During his tenure, he has developed a reputation for a strong work ethic, dedication, fairness and integrity. He has also championed alternatives to incarceration for non-violent offenses, specifically Tulsa's Women in Recovery Program.Legal career
Introduction
Bill LaFortune served as a licensed legal intern for the Tulsa County District Attorney's Office in the spring of 1983 during his third year of law school. Immediately after his graduation from the University of Tulsa College of Law, LaFortune was hired as a contracts administrator for Telex Computer Products, Inc. He was later promoted to Senior Contracts Administrator, acting as second in command of the contracts administration department that tripled in size during his tenure.Assistant Attorney General
After a brief stint working with his father in the oil and gas business, LaFortune was appointed as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Oklahoma by newly elected Attorney General Robert H. Henry in 1987. Initially assigned to the office's civil division, he represented various state agencies, including the State Auditor and Inspector's office, the Department of Transportation, the Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement Board, the Oklahoma Military Department, and the Merit Protection Commission. He also represented the State Board of Osteopathic Examiners and the State Board of Chiropractic Examiners, prosecuting licensees of these Boards against whom formal complaints had been filed. LaFortune also handled all civil litigation and appellate work for these state agencies before the Oklahoma Supreme Court.As an Assistant Attorney General, LaFortune also authored numerous, formal Attorney General Opinions, was the chief in-house consultant on all county and municipal matters, represented the Attorney General as legal advisor to numerous state grand juries and was the in-house “expert” on the Administrative Procedures Act, while also serving as a member of the Oklahoma Legislature's “Task Force on Administrative Rules”, charged with the compilation and codification of all state agency rules and regulations. During this time LaFortune was honored for his service by the Association of County Commissioners of Oklahoma for “Service to County Government”.
The Oklahoma Attorney General later tapped LaFortune to organize and impanel Oklahoma's first multi-county grand jury. After receiving the necessary approval from the Oklahoma Supreme Court, LaFortune was assigned to the newly created Multi-County Grand Jury Division, where he worked until being appointed as an Assistant District Attorney in late 1988. To this day, the multi-county grand jury remains a powerful weapon in Oklahoma's fight against crime.
Assistant District Attorney
In November 1988, LaFortune was appointed as an Assistant District Attorney for Tulsa County by then District Attorney David Moss. He was initially assigned to the Juvenile Division of Tulsa County District Court, prosecuting only child abuse and neglect cases in juvenile court, rising to Chief of the District Attorney's Juvenile Division, supervising assistant district attorneys and support staff in that division.The District Attorney later promoted LaFortune to a felony team prosecutor in the office's Criminal Division. He acted in that capacity as one of two lead prosecutors on a felony trial team, responsible for representation of the State of Oklahoma at jury trial, non-jury trial, motion and sentencing criminal dockets.
Administrative Chief, Tulsa Bureau of the Office of Oklahoma Attorney General
In July 1990, then Oklahoma Attorney General Robert H. Henry opened a Tulsa branch of the Attorney General's Office. LaFortune was chosen by the Attorney General to accomplish this task. Starting with just himself and one support person, the Tulsa branch rapidly expanded under his leadership and today, houses several assistant attorneys general, investigators and support staff.Special Judge – 14th Judicial District for State of Oklahoma
In June 1993, LaFortune sought appointment by then elected Tulsa County district judges as a special judge. He was unanimously elected to this position by the district judges and immediately assumed his duties as a special judge. His first dockets were handling felony preliminary hearing and arraignment dockets. He later was assigned to domestic order, mental health and juvenile dockets. His decisions included upholding the constitutionality of Oklahoma's new “stalking” laws.Tulsa County District Attorney 1995 - 1998
While serving as a Special Judge, the untimely death of then District Attorney David Moss created a vacancy in that office. LaFortune applied for the position and in December 1995, he was appointed by then Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating as the Tulsa County District Attorney. As Tulsa County's chief law enforcement officer, LaFortune managed the largest “law firm” in Tulsa County, composed of over 80 persons. This included overseeing thousands of felony cases, as well as all civil litigation for county government.LaFortune personally prosecuted violent crimes, including record-setting verdicts in sex crime and first-degree murder cases. Also, during his tenure as Tulsa County District Attorney, LaFortune created the first “Crimes Against Children” Division in office to focus the fight against child abuse in all forms. He also created an “Elder Abuse Task Force” to consolidate and coordinate agencies and resources to better focus, prevent and prosecute crimes against our senior citizens.