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 served on the Agriculture & Rural Development,
Veterans & Military Affairs, and Tourism and Wildlife committees.
As a member of the 54th Legislature, Barrington continues to use
his fire service and public safety experience for critical lawmaking
decisions as the Chair of Public Safety & Homeland Security
and Vice-Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Safety
and Judiciary Committees; serving as a member on the Committees
of Agriculture & Rural Development, Veterans & Military
Affairs, Transportation and Rules.
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
Committee Membership
Office Information
Capitol
Address |
District
Address |
Senator Don
Barrington
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd., Rm. 515
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
405.521.5563
barrington@oksenate.gov
Executive Assistant: Sandra Shelton |
4506 N.E. Highlander
Cr.
Lawton, OK 73507 |
District Information: District 31
Zip codes Represented
- 73006, 73017, 73055, 73082,
73442, 73456, 73501, 73503, 73505, 73507, 73520, 73527,
73528, 73529, 73530, 73531, 73533, 73538, 73540, 73541,
73542, 73543, ,73548 ,73551 ,73553 ,73555 ,73562 ,73565
,73566 ,73567 ,73568, 73569, 73570,73572 , and 73573.
|
Counties Represented
- Comanche
- Cotton
- Jefferson
- Stephens
- Tillman
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