The Hon. E. Mark Barcus (Ret.) served as a district judge for the Oklahoma Fourteenth Judicial District. Barcus was appointed to the bench by former Governor Mary Fallin in 2012, filling a vacancy created by the elevation of the Hon. P. Thomas Thornbrugh to the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals. He retired at the conclusion of his term on January 11, 2015.
Barcus currently works as the Assistant Chief Immigration Judge for the United States Office of the Chief Immigration Judge, a position to which he was named in 2020. Before that, he spent time as an immigration judge for the Imperial Immigration Court and the Dallas Immigration Court (2017 to 2020) as well as the interim executive director of Iron Gate (2016 to 2017) and a conflict consultant for Concord Consultants (2015 to 2016).
Barcus earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and communication arts from Austin College in 1984. He then completed a J.D. at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law in 1988. He is admitted to practice in Oklahoma (1988), the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma (1988), and the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (1988).
After graduating from law school, Barcus entered into private practice, handling civil litigation, contract disputes, trade secret misappropriation, oil and gas issues, and commercial torts as an associate at Holliman, Langholz, Runnels & Dorwart. He worked in that capacity until 1992, at which time he opened his own private practice as a sole practitioner.
Then, in 1995, Barcus joined James R. Gotwals & Associates, where he specialized in family law matters. He spent the next three years with the firm, eventually leaving to return to his solo practice. Barcus then closed his practice in 2000, when he was named family court referee for the Tulsa County District Court. He held that position until 2003. At that time, he became a special judge for the Family Division and the Juvenile Division of the Tulsa County District Court.
His memberships have included the boards of the Arts & Humanities Council of Tulsa, the Iron Gate of Tulsa, the Oklahoma Center for Poets & Writers, the Oklahoma Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain, and the Nimrod Literary Journal.
He is a recipient of the Community Service Award from the Community Service Council of Tulsa (2012) and the Legal Community Partner of the Year Award from the Oklahoma Child Support Enforcement Association (2011).