Supreme Court Judicial District 7
In Oklahoma’s Eastern District, Edmondson served as Acting United States Attorney (1980-1981), and as Assistant U.S. Attorney (1978-1980). He also served as Muskogee County’s Assistant District Attorney (1976-1978). Edmondson received his B.A. degree from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah in 1967. He served in the United States Navy (1967-1969) before attending Georgetown University Law School where he received his law degree in 1973. In 1983, he was appointed District Judge by Governor George Nigh. For the next twenty years, he regularly held court in Wagoner, Muskogee, Cherokee, Adair, and Sequoyah counties. James Edmondson alternated annually as Chief Judge of Muskogee County with District Judges Hardy Summers, Lyle Burris, and Mike Norman. He also served as Presiding Judge of the East Central Judicial Administrative District.
In 2003, he was appointed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court by Governor Brad Henry, succeeding Justice Summers upon his retirement. Retained on the court in 2006, he served as Chief Justice in 2009 and 2010; he was retained again in 2012.
He and his wife, Suzanne, have two grown children, Jimmy and Sarah, a granddaughter Essie, and a grandson, Jack.