Editor’s Note and Disclosure: The founder, editor and publisher of CapitolBeatOK.com, an online news service based in Oklahoma City, has known Mark Myles, an Oklahoma attorney, since their college days, which overlapped at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. We are sharing the text of Myles’ campaign announcement statement as he seeks the position of District Attorney in Oklahoma Couty, as well as a detailed biographical sketch his campaign has provided. The two documents appear below.

Mark Myles Campaign Announcement, April 2022

OKLAHOMA CITY— My name is Mark Myles. I am running for the position of District 7 District Attorney, commonly known as the Oklahoma County District Attorney. I am running to advocate for Justice, Fairness, and Accountability in the criminal justice system in Oklahoma County. When I talk about justice, I am talking about protecting public safety and protecting the citizens of Oklahoma county. When I talk about fairness, I am talking about a criminal justice system that protects all citizens fairly, equitably, and ethically from a common-sense perspective. When I talk about accountability, I’m referring to equally holding the District Attorney’s office to the highest standards and accountable for their actions as well as the countywide policing agencies, who must also be held to the highest standards and accountable for their actions. Law enforcement is a vital partner, and it is incumbent upon all of us to do things the right way.

The District Attorney is the top law enforcement officer in the county and serves as a “Minister of Justice” to protect the public’s safety and welfare. This is where the rubber meets the road, where policy meets citizenry, and where we see the reality of that policy impacting the public. As your District Attorney, I will ensure collaboration with the community and that the District Attorney’s office works for you and is on your side. Collaborating with the community means developing and implementing programs that contribute to the public’s safety and overall wellbeing. It means being accessible, available, and listening to community leaders and citizens from all corners of the county. It means being an advocate for the law, for jurisprudence, and for the extraordinary rules that protect each one of us from overreach and unfairness.

Oklahoma County residents need and deserve a District Attorney who is tough on crime yet has a common-sense approach to the law. We must be smart on crime. My track record as both a prosecutor and defense attorney has shown toughness on crime with a fair approach to the law. I sought justice for victims of domestic violence, violent crime, theft, and fraud, and prosecuted those who have threatened public safety. I served as a prosecutor in Logan County and have worked with prosecution offices all over the state while in private practice. As the next Oklahoma County District Attorney, I commit to pursuing justice, law, and order for every citizen in Oklahoma County.

Part of the job is collaborating with policymakers to make better laws. I will work my hardest to make sure that your hard-earned taxpayer dollars are being spent on the right resources. Evil, criminal people who hurt others should go to jail, but every dollar spent on housing too many non-violent offenders with no criminal history — who pose no threat to public safety—is a dollar that could be spent to pay a teacher or provide updated textbooks for our children, our most precious resource. I look forward to collaborating with lawmakers to advocate for policy changes to achieve results that benefit us all.

I love Oklahoma City. I am dedicated to this great place and have devoted all of my adult life to it. In 1995, we were forever changed after the Oklahoma City bombing. But for a fateful decision by my wife, my daughter would have been in the daycare at the Murrah building. Volunteering through the aftermath ultimately set my life on a different trajectory—one that took me to law school and a second career as a prosecutor and a defense attorney.

I’ve spent the last fourteen years protecting the vulnerable, advocating for policy change, enforcing the rule of law, and upholding the Oklahoma Constitution. I do not come from special interests, and I’m a trained economist who knows how business works and how government is supposed to work. We have all seen how dangerous it is when special interests bend and break the law, corrupting the system, and hurting our neighbors, our families, and our children.

Sunlight is the best disinfectant. We must root out corruption at the highest levels and work to restore public faith and trust in our institutions. When taxpayer money entrusted to public servants disappears, somebody must be held accountable. This job is uniquely positioned to protect the public from those who abuse the system. I will make sure that Oklahomans are protected from abuse and fraud, and I commit to upholding the great traditions of the Office of District Attorney to protect people, not special interests. As your District Attorney, I will see that allegations of public corruption are investigated and when appropriate, charges brought to protect the interests of Oklahoma County’s citizens.

Your involvement is incredibly important to me, and I’m grateful that you’ve taken the time to hear me and listen to how we can positively pursue our goals and make a brighter future for all of us. I humbly request your support for my candidacy. We cannot do it alone. Financial contributions of any amount will be key to winning this election. But it’s not only about the money needed to fund voter communications. I also ask that you talk about our campaign to your friends and family, invite me to speak in your homes, at your civic groups, or on virtual calls. Most importantly, please share with me your concerns about the current trends in criminal justice. Our upcoming website will be electmarkmyles.com. You can follow campaign updates there. We are in this together! You are an invaluable part of helping us win this campaign, and I am running to win. Thank you so much!

MEET MARK

Mark Myles, 65, is a long-term resident of Oklahoma City. His father, Major Maurice Myles, USA, (Ret.), served our country as a career artillery officer, and his mother, Dolores Myles, was a junior high school science teacher for more than 30 years. Mark’s mother was active in the Officers’ Wives Auxiliary and Toastmasters International and shepherded Mark and his siblings Shirley, Yvonne, and Timothy, to and from church when he was overseas.

Education and Community Involvement

Mark graduated from Lawton’s Eisenhower High School and earned a BA in Economics from Oklahoma State University in 1983. He was voted Top 10 Freshmen Men as a result of leadership, grades, and involvement in student activities. He began his university studies as a President’s Leadership Scholar and became president of his leadership class, president of Phi Eta Sigma (a national freshman honor society) as well as a member of OSU Ambassadors, and president of the 7,000-member Residence Halls Association (RHA).

Unifying Power of Community Athletics

Mark played sports in elementary school and graduated from Lawton’s Eisenhower High School, where he was an active student and leader, lettering with six letters in football, basketball, and track. He co-captained his track team, served as president of the National Honor Society, and was a charter member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Mark was a driving force in initiating the very first OSU International Student Olympics at OSU, encouraging sporting and cultural interactions among students from the US and the many other countries represented at the university as a way to foster better relations between students from different cultures. Mark served as a member of the university’s multi-purpose fitness facility expansion committee, the work of which resulted in construction of the Colvin Center Annex. He remains a strong believer in the unifying aspects of athletics to this day. Mark officiated every level of basketball from junior high to NCAA Division 1 over a 31-year-career, including 12 high school state championship games. He was also the Oklahoma District Representative for the United States Cycling Federation in the early 2000s.

Business Career

For 21 years, Mark worked for the IBM Corporation providing business solutions to small, medium, and large businesses, earning many accolades and awards for his leadership. During his tenure at IBM, he served as a Junior Achievementconsultant to inner-city and suburban students in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, where he taught principles of economics and free enterprise.

Mark’s Law Career & Practice

The 1995 Oklahoma City bombing spurred Mark’s decision to become a lawyer.

After the attack, Mark served as a Red Cross volunteer for two months, helping first responders and firefighters in the aftermath of the attack. Mark shifted his professional life to align with his personal values to begin advocating and protecting people with his entry into law school at the University of Oklahoma in 2005, when his daughters were in middle and grade school. He frequently cycled 50 miles round trip from Oklahoma City to OU in Norman for his classes, balancing work, health, and school while providing for his family.

While in law school, Mark served as Chair of the Graduate Student Senate, worked as a licensed legal intern in the law school’s criminal defense clinic, and performed pro bono work in New Orleans. He attended the summer law program at Brasenose College at the University of Oxford in England, where he earned a certification in English Legal Systems from the Oxford Centre for International Law and Justice.

Mark received the J.R. Morris Campus Life Award for outstanding leadership and service to the University of Oklahoma and was awarded the Kelly Beardslee Criminal Defense Award for his advocacy in the Law Center’s Criminal Defense Clinic. In the 2007-2008 Frederick Douglass Moot Court Competition, Mark won the Best Oral Advocate and Best Petitioner’s Brief awards.

After graduating from law school in May 2008, he was admitted to practice before the Oklahoma Supreme Court in September that same year. He is also admitted to practice before the United States Court of International Trade, the United States Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, the United States District Court for the Western, Northern, and Eastern Districts of Oklahoma, and the Chickasaw Nation District Court. Mark also helped establish the nonprofit Oklahoma City for Racial Justice.

Mark currently works as an independent attorney practicing criminal, administrative, civil, and family law. Mark is a member of the Oklahoma Bar Association, Oklahoma County Bar Association, Oklahoma Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, The Federal Bar Association, the Chickasaw Bar Association, and a former member of American Bar Association, the National Bar Association, the Logan County Bar Association, and the McClain County Bar Association.

Family and Community

Mark lived in the Mesta Park neighborhood of Oklahoma City from January 1988 to November 2021, recently moving to NW Oklahoma City. One of Mark’s daughters is a University of Chicago graduate and now resides in Chicago. Mark’s other daughter is an Oklahoma State University graduate now residing in Phoenix, Arizona. His wife Eva is a pediatrician-turned-attorney who specializes in civil, immigration, personal injury, and family law. Eva’s daughter is a University of Oklahoma graduate working in Denver. Her son is currently an undergraduate at OU. In his free time, Mark enjoys sports, photography, and travel. He is a former member of Crown Heights Christian Church and the First Christian Church of Oklahoma City.