User:Senator Don Barrington

Encouraged to run for the Oklahoma State Senate by friends, family and mentors, Senator Don Barrington was elected to his first term of office on November 2, 2004, his second term on November 4, 2008, and his third and final term November 6, 2012 by the voters of Senate District 31. He is proud to have served the citizens of Comanche, Cotton, Jefferson and portions of Grady and Stephens Counties for eight years and now, though he will lose Grady County, he welcomes Tillman County in the 2012 newly redistricted lines.

Don Barrington was born September 7, 1947 in Pryor, Oklahoma to Burt & Lura Barrington. He graduated from Rexford High School in Rexford, Kansas in 1965. He enlisted in the United States Army and served from 1966 through 1969; including an eighteen-month tour in Viet Nam where he received an Army Commendation Medal.

Don’s professional career began as a rookie with the Lawton Fire Department in 1969. During his 32-year tenure, he spent 26 years on shift at the fire station. He advanced through testing to the levels of Driver, Lieutenant and Captain, and was then promoted to Deputy Chief. He received an Associates Degree in Engineering Technology from Oklahoma State University in Oklahoma City in 1993. He was appointed as the Fire Chief of Lawton in 1996 and served until his retirement in 2002.

He married Jennifer (Morgan) Barrington on February 7, 1970 in Cache, Oklahoma. They have resided in southwest Oklahoma for the past 42 plus years and have two children. Their daughter, Alicia (Barrington) Rodgers, is an educator at Fort Gibson Public Schools. She and her husband, Gary, reside in Muskogee with their two children, Kade and Kenady. Their son, Jaron Barrington, is a music minister at the Walnut Ridge Baptist Church in Mansfield, Texas where he and his wife, Vicki, reside with their children Emma, Cole and Kate.

He is a member of the Oklahoma State Firefighters Association, Oklahoma Retired Firefighters Association, Oklahoma Fire Chief’s Association, Lawton Salvation Army Advisory Board, and serves as the Co-Chair on the Steering Committee for Law Enforcement and Public Safety through the Great Plains Technology Center. He is an active member of the Lawton Chapter of Gideon’s International where he served as their Secretary and Vice President. He also is a charter member of First Baptist East in Lawton where he serves as a Deacon. Senator Barrington is in his first year of his third term. He spent two years serving as the Co-Chair for Public Safety & Homeland Security, four years as the Chairman of Public Safety and Homeland Security. During the 2011 Legislative Session, he served as the Western and southern Oklahoma Vice-Chair for the Senate Committee on Redistricting based on the 2010 census. In 2011, he was named Vice-Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Safety and Judiciary. He also serves on the Agriculture & Rural Development, Veterans & Military Affairs, and Tourism and Wildlife committees. Barrington continues to use his fire service and public safety experience for critical lawmaking decisions. He also is a key member of the Republican Rural Caucus where significant agricultural producer’s issues are protected by those Senators whose districts are mainly comprised of rural communities. Also in 2011, Senator Barrington was appointed by the Senate President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman to serve on the National Conference of State Legislatures Law and Criminal Justice Standing Committee and the Southern Legislative Conference Human Services and Public Safety Committee. Senator Don Barrington holds one of the best if the not the best attendance record and votes cast record in the Oklahoma State Senate:

99.34 % of votes taken were cast.
98.11 % of Roll Call Votes were answered.
99.77 % of Legislative Days were attended.

He was named the 2008 ‘Legislator of the Year’ by the Oklahoma State Troopers Association, the 2008 ‘Senator of the Year ‘ by the Oklahoma Veterans Council, awarded the 2008 ‘Legislative Excellence in Rural Health’ award by the Rural Health Association of Oklahoma (RHAO), the 2009 ‘Senator of the Year’ by OCARTA, 2009 ‘Meritorious Service Award’ by the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, the 2010 national ‘First Annual Shawn Beaty Award’ by the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute (CCIRI) for his legislation on cold cases, and received the 2011 Distinguished Service Award from the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.

MEDIA CITED SOURCES:

http://www.cvilleok.com/2008SepNews/SearsHealthAward.html

http://www.oksenate.gov/news/press_releases/press_releases_2009/pr20090909a.html

http://www.oksenate.gov/news/press_releases/press_releases_2010/pr20100916a.html

http://cameron.edu/media-releases2011/barrington-osrhe-award