Yvonne Kauger

Yvonne Kauger (born August 3, 1937) is an American attorney and judge who served as a justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court from 1984 to 2024. She is the third longest serving Oklahoma Supreme Court justice and served as chief justice from 1997 to 1998. She was appointed by Governor George Nigh.

She was born in New Cordell, Oklahoma, and grew up in Colony, Oklahoma, and is an honorary member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. Kauger founded the Gallery of the Plains Indian in Colony, Oklahoma, and is the co-founder of the Red Earth organization. Kauger also serves as Symposium Coordinator of the annual Sovereignty Symposium.

Early life Kauger was born in New Cordell, Oklahoma, on August 3, 1937, to John and Alice Kauger. She grew up on her family's farm in Colony, Oklahoma. Her father was close friends with Cheyenne artist Archie Blackowl. Kauger received her Juris Doctor degree at Oklahoma City University School of Law in 1969, where she graduated first in her law school class. She served as chief justice from January 1997 to January 1999.

In 1984, Kauger was adopted by the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, the first non-Native American adopted by the tribe since statehood. In 1987, she co-founded Red Earth, an organization focused on Native American culture. She was inducted into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame in 2001, Oklahoma Hall of Fame, and twice received the Governor's Arts Award.

On May 31, 2023, Kauger was in a 6–3 majority striking down 2 Oklahoma abortion laws, one banning abortion after a fetal heartbeat without exceptions and the other being a total ban with some exceptions.

On November 14, 2023, by the original 5–4 vote, the Oklahoma Supreme Court maintained the "life of mother" exception for the abortion ban. Kauger wrote a three sentence concurrence:

In June 2024, Kauger authored a unanimous opinion which struck down a McCurtain County lodging tax election for failing to follow a state statute requiring the county to publish the ballot question "at least four weeks" in a county newspaper.

Electoral history