GOVERNOR STITT RE-APPOINTS JORDAN K. RUSSELL TO WORKERS’ COMPENSATION COMMISSION
Oklahoma City, Okla. (March 15, 2019)— Governor Kevin Stitt announced today the re-appointment of Jordan K. Russell to the Workers’ Compensation Commission (WCC).
Pending Senate confirmation, Russell will serve a six year term, effective August 26, 2019.
“Commissioner Russell is a dedicated public servant who has worked hard to bring transparency, efficiency and effectiveness to the Workers’ Compensation Commission,” said Stitt. “Continued success in our workers’ comp system is a foundation for Oklahoma becoming a top ten state for business growth and employment opportunity. I look forward to working alongside Commissioner Russell and the WCC as we move Oklahoma forward.”
“I look forward to continuing to serve my State at the Workers’ Compensation Commission and am grateful to Governor Stitt for placing his faith in me,” said Commissioner Russell.
The Oklahoma’s workers’ compensation system was reformed in 2013 by the Administrative Workers’ Compensation Act. The Act created the WCC, an executive branch agency designed to bring accountability and efficiency to the process by replacing the Workers’ Compensation Court. The WCC adjudicates cases by Oklahoma employees injured on the job or by their employers, and regulates companies who choose to self-insure their workers’ compensation obligations.
Commissioner Russell, along with two other commissioners, serves as an administrator of the WCC and sits on an en banc panel to decide appeals of decisions from WCC administrative law judges. During his term, Commissioner Russell has seen Oklahoma become the top state in the country for falling premium rates while helping injured workers receive faster access to medical care and timely resolution of their claims.
Russell, a 4th generation native of Freedom, Oklahoma, was first appointed to the WCC on October 4, 2016. He came to the WCC after serving three legislative sessions as policy director and counsel to former Speaker of the House Jeffrey Hickman and a previous successful law practice. He and his wife Jessica Russell have two children.
