Alva Review-Courier -

OKLAHOMA – Bartlett Bouse, a Woodward attorney, has been named to the Oklahoma Board of Juvenile Affairs. Bouse started his duties immediately.

Speaker of the House of Representatives Charles McCall appointed Bouse to the nine-member board. The board is the rulemaking body for the Office of Juvenile Affairs (OJA). Its other duties include approving OJA’s annual budget request, assisting staff with priorities and policies of the agency and establishing procedures and payment rates for contracting agencies.

Bouse succeeds Sean Burrage, who resigned earlier this year. The speaker and the president pro tempore of the Senate each appoint two members to the board and the governor appoints five members.

“I appreciate Speaker McCall’s confidence in me and this opportunity to serve our state,” said Bouse. “I look forward to working with staff to ensure OJA helps change the future of youth involved in the justice system.”

Bouse has practiced general law at his personal firm, Bouse Law Firm, in Woodward, since July 1999. Before that, he was an assistant district attorney in the district attorney’s office in Woodward.

Bouse is a member of the Oklahoma Bar Association and is admitted to practice in Oklahoma, the U.S. District Court-Western District of Oklahoma and the U.S. Court of Appeals-10th Circuit.

He served as a member of the Western Plains Youth and Family Service Board, including as president of the board, and as a member of the Woodward County Post Adjudication Review Board. He was a commissioner of the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth, serving as chairman from 2002 through 2013, and a board member of the Woodward United Fund. Bouse also has served on a number of civic boards, commissions and campaigns.

Bouse received his juris doctorate from the University of Oklahoma College of Law, and a bachelor of science in accounting from Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva.

“I am grateful for Mr. Bouse’s appointment to our board. I enjoyed our introductory conversation and I appreciate that he is familiar with the challenges of dealing with at-risk youth, having handled juvenile proceedings while he was an assistant district attorney and serving as chairman of the Oklahoma Youth Commission on Children and Youth. His service on the Western Plains Youth and Family Service Board will also benefit our OJA board and the agency,” said OJA Executive Director Rachel Holt. “I look forward to working with him and the other board members as we strive to help the youth in our care develop successful and productive trajectories.”