Tom Colbert (born December 30, 1949) is a former Associate Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. He was appointed to the Court's District 6 seat in 2004, by Governor Brad Henry, becoming the first African-American to serve on the court. On January 4, 2013, he was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and served In that post until January 2015. After completing his two-year term as Chief Justice, he resumed his previous position on the court as Associate Justice representing the 6th Judicial District. On January 19, 2021, Colbert’s retirement was announced by the Oklahoma Supreme Court, effective February 1 of the same year.
In between his attendance at EKU and OU, Colbert served in the Criminal Investigation Division of the United States Army. Following graduation from law school in 1982, he moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in order to accept the post of Assistant Dean of Marquette University Law School, serving until 1984. Returning to Oklahoma in 1984, he was appointed as an Assistant District Attorney in Oklahoma County, serving in that capacity until 1986. He entered private law practice in Oklahoma City in 1986.[3] Over the next decade, he alternated between private practice and service as an attorney with the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.[a] Between 1986 and 2000 he also served as assistant general counsel for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.[4] From 1999 to 2004, he served as a Judge on the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals and was the first African-American to serve on that Court.[b] Colbert briefly served as Chief Judge of the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals prior to his appointment to the Oklahoma Supreme Court District 6 seat in 2004, by Governor Brad Henry, becoming the first African-American to serve on the court. On January 4, 2013, he was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, replacing former Chief Justice Steven W. Taylor.[6]
After serving his two-year term as Chief Justice, he returned to his former status on the Supreme Court representing the 6th Judicial District.[4] On January 19, 2021, Colbert’s retirement was announced by the Oklahoma Supreme Court, effective February 1 of the same year.[7]
In 2005, he was inducted in the Eastern Oklahoma State College Hall of Fame, and received the Thurgood Marshall Award of Excellence and the OU Black Alumni Society—Trailblazer Award.[4]
In 2013, he received the Oklahoma City/ County Historical Society – Pathmaker Award and the Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher Diversity Award.[4]
Colbert is married to Dorthea (née Guion) and has three adult children.[10] He was raised by a single mother, Edith Colbert, of Sapulpa.[4]
During his swearing-in ceremony as chief justice in 2013, Colbert told the assembled guests that he had once considered resigning from the Oklahoma Supreme Court to pursue a more remunerative career as a private lawyer. He said that his wife and mother talked him out of the idea, saying that he would be letting down so many other people who had made sacrifices so that he could attain such an influential position.[6]
^He worked at the private firm Miles-LaGrange & Colbert, where his partner was Vicki Miles-LaGrange, who later became chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. In 1989, the firm was renamed Colbert and Associates.[4]
^Governor Frank Keating appointed Colbert to the Court of Civil Appeals.[5]