About Gayla

Gayla Is a third generation Oklahoman, having been born in Seminole, Oklahoma and spent her childhood there. She lived with her family in Louisiana and Texas before returning to live Oklahoma in 2000. She graduated from the University of Oklahoma School of Law. She earned her Juris Doctorate graduating with Distinction in 2002. In Law School, she received the Larry Siria Community Service Award for Outstanding Achievement for her work in the Law Clinic.

In 2005, Gayla was appointed as special judge of the District Court for Seminole and Hughes Counties. She was the first female Jurist in the Counties to which she served for over a decade.  She attended the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada for training in Mental Health cases soon after taking the bench. As a result of that training, Gayla helped start what were two of the first mental health Court dockets in rural Oklahoma. She twice presented at the Oklahoma Judicial Conference helping Oklahoma Judges in Mental Health Court protocols.

Gayla was named Legal Community Partner of the Year in 2008 by the Oklahoma Child Support Enforcement Association. In 2016, Gayla left the trial bench and went into private practice in her hometown. She has practiced as a solo practitioner since that time, with her primary focus in Family Law.

Gayla is a member of the Oklahoma and American Bar Associations. She is a member of Immanuel Baptist Church in Shawnee, Oklahoma. A former Journalist, Gayla is currently working on books about her experiences as a female jurist and practitioner in her home state.

She divides her time between Shawnee, Oklahoma, where she lives with her mother, near her two sisters, nieces and nephews and Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she has two children and two grandchildren. Her third grandchild will soon graduate from Seminole High School. Gayla’s eldest child lives in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, so Gayla is a frequent visitor to that city.