Media release
Three-term DA leaves legacy of innovation, including first-of-its-kind women’s offender program set to graduate inaugural class in May
STILLWATER, OK — Laura Austin Thomas, the three-term District Attorney for Payne and Logan Counties, announced today that she will retire, closing a 42-year career in prosecution and public safety. Her last day will be April 30, 2026.
“It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve my communities,” said Thomas. “I remain deeply grateful for the trust placed in me over the years and proud of the work we’ve accomplished together. I have accomplished the goals I set for myself here. However, there is another whole life with joys and goals ahead for me and I am anxious to embrace it.”
Thomas’s tenure as District Attorney for District 9 has been defined by innovation. She established a diversion program for non-violent minor offenses that has proven highly successful, modernized her offices into fully paperless operations, and created what she calls the achievement she is most proud of: the About Face Women’s Offender Program.
About Face is a first-of-its-kind residential 501(c)(3) program located in Stillwater for non-violent female offenders with prior records. The 18-month program provides in-house substance abuse treatment, trauma counseling, group and individual therapy, and a safe, structured environment. The requirement: every participant must complete a year-long career tech program to earn a trade skill.
The program’s inaugural class of five women will graduate in May as certified underground utility locators, with job offers from the national company that partnered with career tech to design the curriculum—complete with competitive salaries, company
vehicles, and benefits.
“This program fulfills a lifelong professional goal of mine and has proven to us that this can change women’s lives for the betterment of themselves and society,” Thomas said. “We did not establish this as just another program. We built it to prevent recidivism by providing the structures and opportunities these women have never had before—and it has been successful.” Thomas intends to remain active in the program.
Dee Miller serves as executive administrator of the About Face program, supported by what Thomas described as a “very talented, involved board.”
Thomas also led a comprehensive modernization of her offices, overseeing the digitization of more than 40 years of paper records. Her team meticulously scanned files into digital format before shredding over 71,000 pounds of archived documents. The offices are now fully paperless. Under Thomas’s leadership, the District 9 offices have passed every biennial State Auditor examination with no findings.
“This is and was possible because my offices are staffed with committed, dedicated, and talented employees who give their all to the public we serve and to me,” Thomas said. “They are the people behind the face of this office.”
Beyond the courtroom, Thomas has served on the state Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board, a legislative study group on human and labor trafficking, the Oklahoma District Attorneys Association as a board member, and the District Attorneys Council’s Technology and Legislative committees.
Thomas said her retirement comes at a particularly meaningful time. Both of her daughters are expecting children, and she already has two young grandchildren.
“Family and faith have always been my foundation in guiding me through life. One of my grandchildren is expected any day now, and I want to be immersed more with them as they grow and create lasting memories as my grandparents did with me,” Thomas said “I’m also going to be working on a master flower, rose, vegetable, and fruit garden and digging in the dirt with my little ones. Thank you for allowing me to serve you.”
