History of the Supreme Court

With the effectiveness of the 1999 Cherokee Nation Constitution, the Judicial Appeals Tribunal became the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court. In Article VIII Section 1 the Constitution states:

“The Judicial powers of the Cherokee Nation shall be vested in a Supreme Court and such lower courts as the Council shall from time-to-time ordain and establish. The Judicial Appeals Tribunal shall become known as the Supreme Court of the Cherokee Nation. The Supreme Court shall be composed of five (5) members all of whom must be citizens of the Cherokee Nation and be admitted to practice law before the highest Court of any state of the United States.”

2006	Darell R. Matlock, Jr., Chief Justice, Stacy L. Leeds, Darrell R. Dowty, James G. Wilcoxen, Kyle B. Haskins
2007	Darell R. Matlock, Jr., Chief Justice, Darrell R. Dowty, James G. Wilcoxen, Kyle B. Haskins, Troy Wayne Poteete
2008	Darell R. Matlock, Jr., Chief Justice, Darrell R. Dowty, James G. Wilcoxen, Kyle B. Haskins, Troy Wayne Poteete
2009	Darell R. Matlock, Jr., Chief Justice, Darrell R. Dowty, James G. Wilcoxen, Kyle B. Haskins, Troy Wayne Poteete
2010	Darell R. Matlock, Jr., Chief Justice, Darrell R. Dowty, James G. Wilcoxen, Kyle B. Haskins, Troy Wayne Poteete
2011	Darell R. Matlock, Jr., Chief Justice, Darrell R. Dowty, James G. Wilcoxen, Kyle B. Haskins, Troy Wayne Poteete
2012	Darell R. Matlock, Jr., Chief Justice, Darrell R. Dowty, James G. Wilcoxen, Kyle B. Haskins [1], Troy Wayne Poteete, John C. Garrett [2]
2013	Darrell R. Dowty, Chief Justice, Troy Wayne Poteete, John C. Garrett, James G. Wilcoxen, Angela Jones
2014	Darrell R. Dowty, Chief Justice, Troy Wayne Poteete, John C. Garrett, James G. Wilcoxen, Angela Jones
2015	Troy Wayne Poteete, Chief Justice, John C. Garrett, James G. Wilcoxen, Angela Jones, Lynn Burris
2016	Troy Wayne Poteete, Chief Justice, John C. Garrett, James G. Wilcoxen, Angela Jones, Lynn Burris
2017	John C. Garrett, Chief Justice, James G. Wilcoxen, Angela Jones, Lynn Burris, Mark L. Dobbins
2018	John C. Garrett, Chief Justice, James G. Wilcoxen, Angela Jones [3], Lynn Burris, Mark L. Dobbins, Lee W. Paden [4]
2019	James G. Wilcoxen, Chief Justice, Lee W. Paden, Lynn Burris, Mark L. Dobbins, John C. Garrett
2020	James G. Wilcoxen, Chief Justice, Lee W. Paden, Lynn Burris [5], Mark L. Dobbins, John C. Garrett, Shawna S. Baker [6]
2021	Lee W. Paden, Chief Justice, Shawna S. Baker, Mark L. Dobbins, John C. Garrett, Rex Earl Starr
2022	John C. Garrett, Chief Justice, Lee W. Paden [7], Shawna S. Baker, Mark L. Dobbins, Rex Earl Starr
2023	John C. Garrett, Chief Justice, Shawna S. Baker, Mark L. Dobbins, Rex Earl Starr, Tina Glory Jordan [8]
2024	John C. Garrett, Chief Justice, Shawna S. Baker, Mark L. Dobbins, Rex Earl Starr, Tina Glory Jordan
2025	John C. Garrett, Chief Justice, Shawna S. Baker, Mark L. Dobbins, Rex Earl Starr, Tina Glory Jordan

[1] Resigned effective June 1st, 2012

[2] Confirmed by Cherokee Nation Tribal Council on June 12th, 2012

[3] Passed away July 31, 2018

[4] Confirmed by Cherokee Nation Tribal Council on September 27, 2018

[5] Passed away March 12, 2020

[6] Confirmed by Cherokee Nation Tribal Council on August 27, 2020

[7] Resigned September 12, 2022

[8] Confirmed by Cherokee Nation Council on August 31, 2023