Kingfisher County Associate District Judge, Lance Schneiter served as guest speaker for the May meeting of the Kingfisher County Retired Educators Association.

The meeting was held Wednesday, May 3, at Kingfisher Memorial Library with 13 members and two guests present.

Schneiter grew up in Shawnee and always dreamed of being a lawyer, he told the members.

His mother had worked as a first-grade teacher for the local public school system, but then decided to stay home with Schneiter and his brother to support their educational goals and activities.

Once both boys were finished with school, Schneiter said she returned to public education.

Schneiter explained that there is no specific pre-law curriculum for attorneys, so he decided to major in political science with a minor in psychology.

He thought that having a psychology minor might be helpful to him in working with clients in the future when he became an attorney, he said.

During law school, he met his future wife, Katie Schulte. Schneiter said she was more interested in estate planning law, but he was more interested in courtroom litigation.

The couple married a few years later.

After completing his law degree and passing the bar in 2002, he began working for a prominent Oklahoma City law firm.

The firm required a minimum number of billable hours by its attorneys and staff each month.

Schneiter later accepted a position at the law offi ce of Schulte, Schneiter & Gibson in Kingfisher, where he and Katie became co-workers.

Within a few years, Schneiter said local attorney Doyle Miller encouraged him to run for the judge position once the Honorable Robert E. Davis had retired.

Although he had never envisioned himself in that position, Schneiter said he decided to run for office and was elected to the position in 2018.

Within a few years, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, creating new challenges for the court.

Schneiter presented the number of court cases (both civil and criminal) which occurred in 2022 in Kingfisher County.

He stated that the number of misdemeanor cases had increased dramatically due to changes in the drug laws in Oklahoma.

The number of deprived cases and juvenile delinquent cases has also increased significantly during the past few years.

The most significant challenges that the Kingfisher County court faces now are a lack of court reporters and translators who can speak and interpret Mandarin Chinese, he said.

Northwest District OREA Representative Joy Dennis provided information regarding the current legislative session at the meeting.

Twenty bills pertaining to public education had been vetoed by Gov. Kevin Stitt.

House Bill 2171, pertaining to a one-time stipend for retired educators, had failed to be presented for consideration on the Oklahoma Senate floor, so it is now dead for the session despite receiving overwhelming support in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, she said.

KCREA Legislative Committee Chairman Dana Golbek praised Rep. Mike Dobrinski’s quick communication and follow-ups with her during this legislative session.

Golbek also presented a treasurer’s report stating that there was a current balance of $421.33 in the KCREA bank account, so it would be necessary to access funds from the group’s CD in order to pay for the KCREA college scholarship.

KCREA Secretary Kathy Kadavy presented a handout regarding the KCREA proposed amendments to the constitution/by-laws for 2023.

This matter had been discussed at length at the March meeting. The motion passed unanimously to accept the proposed amendments.

The group thanked Kadavy for her work on this matter.

Regarding the new slate of officers for 2023, Cathy Howard announced that Debby Jorgensen had agreed to accept the position of vice president for 2023-24.

The new slate of officers will meet at Donna Jech’s home during the summer to plan for the new year, including guest speakers. The group thanked Nancy Teders for serving as president for two years.

The next meeting will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 6, at the Kingfisher Memorial Library.

All retired public school educators or support staff are welcome to attend.