Kingfisher County’s newest assistant district attorney said a winning record in the courtroom is not his top priority.

“My focus has always been and continues to be two main things – consulting with victims to ensure their engagement with the system doesn’t victimize them again and doing the right things that promote public safety,” Jimmy Bunn said.

“I think it’s imortant for prosecutors to know that our duty is not to win every case at all cost.

“Our duty is to see that justice is done as we understand it.”

Bunn, whose background includes two decades in the general counsel’s office for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and criminal defense as well as prosecution, transferred to the Kingfisher County office in December from Garfield County.

He joins Tamara Hurd, who divides her time between Kingfisher and Blaine counties, handling juvenile and deprive cases as well as criminal misdemeanors and some felony cases.

She’s been in the Kingfisher office since January 2021, having previously worked as a prosecutor in Logan County.

Their Backgrounds

A native of Odessa, Texas, Bunn moved to Edmond his junior year in high school.

Bunn said he originally had his eye on a career in national politics when he selected his areas of concentration at Oklahoma State University, majoring in economics with minors in political science, history and theater.

“What is politics but history, econ, poly sci and theater,” he joked.

By the time he earned his undergraduate degree, he’d talked himself out of seeking elected office but still had the desire to practice law.

He earned his law degree from Arizona State University and worked for eight years as a criminal defense attorney.

Along the way he met his wife, who was and still is an Oklahoma City police officer.

“From the time we married until I went to the OSBI in 1999, our house was kind of like a really weird sitcom – a criminal defense lawyer and a police officer,” Bunn quipped.

“But really we were both in the same business, respecting and upholding the constitution.”

Hired as assistant general counsel at the OSBI and then advancing to chief legal counsel, he served under four different directors.

His friendship with former Kingfisher resident and former OSBI agent Steve Neuman and his wife Molly, former county prosecutor, brought Bunn to the attention of District Attorney Mike Fields.

When Bunn left the OSBI, Fields hired him at the Garfield County office and then offered him the Kingfisher County position when John Salmon moved to the Canadian County office.

A Colorado native, Hurd earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Denver before earning her law degree from the OCU School of Law in 2019.

She spent two years as a prosecutor in Logan County before joining Fields’ staff in Kingfisher and Blaine counties.

She and her husband are raising four young children, ages 8, 6, 4 and 2 on an acreage east of Guthrie.

Kingfisher Priorities

Hurd arrived just after the first year of the pandemic, when lockdowns and school and courthouse closures had wreaked havoc on at-risk families and created a court backlog that has yet to be completely conquered.

Once in-person learning resumed, Hurd began working with local schools to encourage and enforce school attendance.

When school administrators have exhausted efforts under the law to get excessively absent students back in class – including three written notices mailed to parents or guardians – Hurd files misdemeanor charges.

“Truancy is a state law – it’s not specific to Kingfisher County and it’s not something we just decided to do here,” Hurd said.

“Excessive truancy often is a red flag that other issues are going on in the home, so it’s not something we want to ignore.”

Students over the age of 15 years and nine months can be held accountable in juvenile court.

If they are under that age, parents can be charged, Hurd said.

Truancy is one of three types of cases which are handled on special diversionary dockets, where progress is monitored by the judge and cases can eventually be dismissed once students return to class on a regular basis.

(Mental health and drug court are the county’s other two diversionary dockets.)

Among felony cases, Bunn said two local issues have caught his attention.

“The interesting things I’ve encountered so far are the number repeat offenders and the number of large scale property crimes,” he said.

“When I’ve looked at criminal records when I file new charges, I see some defendants with 10 or 15 prior convictions who have never been to prison – they’ve all been probation.

“At some point, what’s best for the state and those victims is defendants recognizing they are not going to continue getting deferred or suspended sentence – they’re going to get prison time.”

Bunn noted that in a rural county like Kingfisher, property crimes “have an outsize impact beyond the amount of money or the piece of equipment stolen.”

“We’re seeing a lot of farm and oil and gas equipment thefts and not only are victims dealing with the dollar amount of the loss, but when someone steals a piece of equipment they use for their livelihood, they’ve effectively stopped their business.”

Bunn said his experience in law enforcement as well as criminal defense gives him the ability to relate to both those entities, all of whom he sees as essential components of the justice system.

“I don’t just view the defense bar as my opponents, I view them as an essential part of the system,” he said.

“I think they sense that and realize we can work together to see that justice is done rather than constantly working at loggerheads.”

Community Appreciated

Both Hurd and Bunn said they appreciated the welcome they’ve received from the county, including other courthouse officials and members of the community.

“It’s a tight-knit community where everyone seems to know everyone else, which really makes our jobs easier,” Hurd said.

“We want everyone to know that our doors are open and no one should hesitate to talk to us if they have questions or concerns about anything.”