The Oklahoma State Capital

An overflow crowd spilled into the corridors of the Payne County Courthouse Friday morning as Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Rob Hudson administered the oath of office to Jeremiah Gregory, the new district attorney for Payne and Logan counties.

Gregory pledged transparency and accountability, saying he would provide District 9 staff members with “all of the tools” needed to carry out the duties justice requires. He promised to remain accessible and declared that integrity, character and honesty are not “things of the past.”

Gregory recognized his wife, Alicia, and their two daughters. He explained that Alicia, though she does not relish public attention, has played a pivotal role in his life and that her prayers had led him to rededicate his life to Jesus Christ.

His daughters, he said, became a hit on the campaign trail, capturing the attention of senior citizens who sometimes appeared more enamored with the younger Gregorys than with their father or his campaign platform.

Gregory concluded his remarks to loud applause. The ceremony ended approximately 15 minutes after its 11 a.m. commencement.

Prior to swearing Gregory into office, Hudson told attendees that service as the District 9 district attorney had been one of the hardest jobs of his life. Hudson previously served in the District 9 role in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Gregory, a Republican, secured the office when no other candidates filed by the April 3 deadline. Gov. Kevin Stitt subsequently appointed Gregory to complete the remainder of former District Attorney Laura Austin Thomas’ term, allowing him to take office several months before his full term begins in January.

Thomas retired April 30 after 42 years in public service.

STILLWATER, Okla. — Viewed through the courtroom doorway, Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Robert L. Hudson administers the oath of office to new District 9 District Attorney Jeremiah Gregory before a packed courtroom Friday, July 31, 2026, at the Payne County Courthouse.

Gregory enlisted in the Air Force shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and deployed to the Middle East multiple times in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He worked in air and ground intelligence.

He earned honors degrees in economics and finance from Oklahoma State University, a master’s degree in accounting from Kansas State University and a law degree from the University of Oklahoma.

After completing law school, Gregory prosecuted criminal cases through the Oklahoma attorney general’s office and the District 9 district attorney’s office. His work included felony drug, property, violent and white-collar criminal cases. He also served as a county civil attorney and worked with the Payne and Logan county drug courts.

Gregory later entered private practice in Stillwater and operates a commercial Angus cow-calf operation.

His swearing-in marks one of two major turnovers in District 9’s justice system. Payne County Special Judge Katherine Thomas will take office as district judge in January after becoming the only candidate to file for the position.

She will succeed District Judge Jason Reese, whom Stitt appointed in December 2024. Reese did not file for election to a full term.

Gregory will have little time to settle into his new position. He takes control of an office at the center of months of courthouse protests, online petitions, victims’ rights claims and demands for an outside investigation.

Much of the controversy grew from the handling of the Jesse Butler case. Butler was granted youthful-offender status and later pleaded no contest to 11 counts. He avoided incarceration and was placed under an Office of Juvenile Affairs rehabilitation plan. A suspended prison sentence remained possible if he failed to complete the plan.

STILLWATER, Okla. — Viewed through the doorway of a packed courtroom, newly sworn District 9 District Attorney Jeremiah Gregory addresses attendees as Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Robert L. Hudson looks on Friday, July 31, 2026, at the Payne County Courthouse.

The outcome produced repeated demonstrations at the courthouse and online petitions calling for changes to plea-deal practices and the removal of Special Judge Susan Worthington.

One of Butler’s victims and her parents alleged that prosecutors had violated their rights under Marsy’s Law, prompting a three-day evidentiary hearing April 13–15. In a written ruling filed April 20, Associate District Judge Michael Kulling found that they had not proved a violation of their constitutional or statutory rights.

Parents for Payne County filed a petition seeking a grand jury investigation of Thomas and her office. The group alleged that evidence had been suppressed and that crimes against children had not been fully investigated.

Oklahoma County District Judge Richard C. Ogden, specially assigned by the Oklahoma Supreme Court to oversee the Payne County proceeding, ruled June 23 that the group’s 2,542 valid signatures exceeded the 828-signature threshold used in his initial calculation. He ordered a grand jury convened.

Six days later, Ogden vacated his order and declared the petition null and void after the Oklahoma attorney general’s office and the Oklahoma Council on Judicial Complaints separately directed his attention to a 2024 Oklahoma Supreme Court decision governing the calculation.

Under the formula established by that decision, petitioners needed 3,484 valid signatures—16% of the 21,778 votes cast in Payne County in the 2022 governor’s race.

The abrupt reversal prompted Parents for Payne County to send Attorney General Gentner Drummond an open letter seeking an explanation.

In recent interviews, Gregory said he welcomed a grand jury as an “independent set of eyes” capable of helping remove the cloud of distrust surrounding the district attorney’s office. He also pledged that, if the citizen petition failed to produce a grand jury, he would ask the attorney general to conduct an independent investigation.

Although Gregory resides in Payne County, he has longstanding ties to Logan County, where he provided legal services to county officials while serving as outside counsel to the District 9 district attorney’s office.

Gregory’s term of office will extend through 2030.