County discusses memorial portrait of landmark lawyer

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The Custer County Board of Commissioners discussed a request from the Custer County Bar Association to display a memorial portrait of the late Glea Tutwiler in the courthouse hallway during the regular meeting Monday morning.

Tutwiler was the first woman to graduate with a law degree from the University of Oklahoma as well as the first female attorney to practice in Custer County. The Custer County Bar Association wants to donate a portrait of Tutwiler with a small plaque at the bottom to commemorate her accomplishments.

Tutwiler worked as a secretary for Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Fletcher Riley before opening her own law office in Arapaho, later moving it to Clinton. Tutwiler passed away in December 2019, only a month before her 103rd birthday.

District Judge Jill Weedon said the portrait was at no cost to the county. The bar association just wants permission to hang the item.

Weedon, who had a court docket scheduled, was unable to attend the meeting, but she made the request on behalf of the bar association before the meeting so the board could discuss it later.

The board discussed the matter but was not in favor of permanently hanging the portrait in the courthouse hallway. The board suggested hanging it in the hallway for a year and then moving it to the judges’ offices for display. However, the board did not seem in favor of this option either.

The board ultimately made the decision to have the portrait in the hallway as they have set a precedent to not hang anything permanent there. One exception would be the annual 4-H award winners who have their portraits hanging next to the office for a year before being replaced by the next year’s winner.

Since Judge Weedon was unavailable for further discussion, no resolution was reached during the meeting. More information will be released as it becomes available.