Oklahoma County is in the market for a new judge after a veteran jurist announced Monday he is stepping down.
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Special Judge Brian Upp is resigning effective Thursday, the day before he was supposed to begin a new assignment presiding over mental health and protective order cases.
Upp, who was appointed to the bench in 1994, was not available for comment Monday.
His staff referred all questions to the district judges who are responsible for hiring 18 special judges in Oklahoma County.
Presiding Judge Vicki Robertson, who was responsible for Upp's new assignment, did not return a call from The Oklahoman.
Robertson signed an administrative order June 27 that set out new assignments for three judges, including Upp.
Her order removed District Judge Bill Graves from the criminal docket, a move that has been criticized by defense attorneys and the other six Oklahoma County judges presiding over criminal cases.
Graves and Special Judge Larry Jones will preside over probate dockets beginning Friday.
Other judges likely will cover Upp's new assignment until a replacement can be found, court officials said.
Applications for Upp's position will be accepted until Aug. 11, officials said.
Special judges are paid more than $105,000 a year, thanks to a raise enacted at the beginning of this month.
District judges will review a selected number of applicants before hiring a new special judge.
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This is the best news I have heard from Oklahoma that this person - Brian Upp, who has been pretending to be a Judge has resigned!!! He is a big joke; only childrens lives were at stake...
Tom I so agree with you. My son was set up by a an ex wife,has set in jail for a year , he is innocent. He will not plea for something he did not do. Do the system care that he has lost everything dear to him , no the DA wants to win at all costs, does not matter if they destroy peoples lives.Does not matter if they will not plea just let them rot in jail. Everyone in jail is not guilty , just stuck in Oklahoma's stupid system.
Your justice system has been and is broken. Each judge is handling about 2000 cases a month, which is impossible. This allows Prater and the DA’s office to run wild, and do nothing but plea bargain, threaten and brow beat the suspect, whither their guilty or not, running up a conviction record that looks good for OKC, but in reality, is making the county and OK a laughing stock, to the rest of the US. You need to take a long look at your judges like Gray and Paddleford and remember something about the DA’s office. Every man who has held the DA’s position has gone bad. “Absolute power corrupts absolutely” and you can see it starting in Prater.
I agree with A. Judge Upp was dead weight. Should have been gone a long time ago. Best of luck to him in his new endeavors though, it's just that not everyone is cut out to be a judge.
JustaGirl, Oklahoma City - Jul 29, 2008 at 9:19 am
Vicki Robertson must go. She is obviously out of control and not capable of managing this staff. The LAST thing we need in central Oklahoma is MORE broken court systems.
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Did Prater fire you??