The Oklahoma Bar Journal September 2024

career that highlight her work as a public servant in the legal commu nity and the Tulsa area. She currently serves as a special judge for the 14th Judicial District in Tulsa County.

As a part of her legal career, she has had the honor of serving as the first assistant to the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma and later as acting United States attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma during a presidential transition period. Prior to these appoint ments, Judge Radford prosecuted criminal cases and defended the government in civil actions. Before working for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, she was an assistant public defender in Tulsa County for approximately eight years, providing legal represen tation to indigent defendants charged with felony and misde meanor crimes. In May 2018, she was inducted into her high school alma mater’s hall of fame. Judge Radford has received numerous honors and awards throughout her legal

Judge Loretta F. Radford Judge Loretta F. Radford received her bachelor’s degree in busi ness admin istration from

Emma Rolls

Emma Rolls

is the first assistant federal public defender for the Western

TU, and she is a 1984 graduate of the OU College of Law. She is admitted and licensed to practice law in the state of Oklahoma and is authorized to practice law in the federal courts located within Oklahoma. On Sept. 13, 2019, Judge Radford retired from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma after 26 years and accepted a position as legal director for the Center for Criminal Justice at the OCU School of Law, where she worked from 2019 until 2022.

District of Oklahoma

and the chief of its Capital

Habeas Unit. She represents individuals under a sentence of death during their federal habeas proceedings, as well as through the clemency process. In 2021, Ms. Rolls received the Opio Toure Courageous Advocate Award from the Oklahoma Coalition

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THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL