“The United States Constitution and the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board” will be the focus of Cameron University’s annual Constitution Day observance on Tuesday, September 17. The Hon. Jari Askins, whose background of government services includes serving as executive director of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, is the featured speaker. CU will join American colleges and universities for the national observance at 2 p.m. in the Mary Lou and W. Carey Johnson Auditorium, located in Ross Hall. The event is open to the public at no charge. Refreshments will be served.
Askins has served the people of Oklahoma for more than 40 years in a variety of roles ranging from judge to legislator to Lieutenant Governor. She currently serves as Special Advisor to the President of Cameron University after serving as Interim President during the 2024-2025 academic year while the Board of Regents conducted its search for a new Cameron University president.
In June 2024, she retired as Administrative Director of the Courts where she coordinated judicial operations and personnel throughout the state for nine years under the supervision of the Chief Justice and the Oklahoma Supreme Court. She was the first woman to serve as Administrative Director of the Courts in Oklahoma. Prior to the Administrative Office of the Courts, Askins served in a new position created by Governor Fallin as Special Adviser to the Governor on Child Welfare issues and Pinnacle Plan implementation.
When Askins was sworn in as Oklahoma's 15th Lieutenant Governor in 2007, she achieved the rare distinction of being involved in public service leadership in all three branches of state government. She served as Special Judge for the District Court of Stephens County from 1982-1990 and was the first woman to serve as an officer in the Oklahoma Judicial Conference. In 1991, the governor appointed her to the Pardon and Parole Board, which elected her as its first woman chairman. She was also the first Parole Board member with prior judicial experience. She later served as Executive Director of the Pardon and Parole Board and as Deputy General Counsel in the Office of the Governor. In 2014, Governor Mary Fallin called upon Askins to again lead the Pardon and Parole Board by serving a second stint as the agency’s interim executive director.
Askins was elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 1994 from District 50 and completed her term limit of 12 years serving her constituents of Stephens, Comanche and Cotton Counties. During her last term, she became the first woman to lead a caucus in the Oklahoma Legislature when she was elected Democratic House Leader.
She won statewide election as Lieutenant Governor in 2006 and served in that role until 2011. After leaving office, Askins served as Associate Provost for External Relations at the OU Health Sciences Center with her primary focus on the new Stephenson Cancer Center.
She serves on the Board of Directors of Duncan Regional Hospital, the Board of Trustees for the Dean McGee Eye Institute Foundation, the Board of Directors for the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, the Executive Committee for the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, and on the Board of Directors for USA Softball.
Cameron’s observance of Constitution Day is sponsored by the CU School of Graduate and Professional Studies, the Department of Social Sciences, the Lawton Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Dr. William L. and Barbara Scearce Endowed Lectureship in Political Science.
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PR#25-109
