The Hon. William D. LaFortune is a district judge for the Oklahoma Fourteenth Judicial District. He was elected to the bench on November 4, 2014, filling a vacancy created by the retirement of the Hon. Tom Gillert.
Prior to his election, LaFortune was an attorney in private practice, working as a partner at Norman, Wohlgemuth, Chandler & Dowdell (1998 to 2002), of counsel at Moyers, Martin, Santee & Imel (2006 to 2010), and a sole practitioner (2010 to 2014). He specialized in land use planning and zoning matters before the City of Tulsa Board of Adjustment and the Tulsa Metropolitan Area as well as public and administrative law for the Tulsa Housing Authority and the Oklahoma Department of Labor. Before that, he spent two years as the District Attorney for the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office (1995 to 1998) and a special judge for the Tulsa County District Court (1993 to 1995).
LaFortune earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1980. He then completed a J.D. at the University of Tulsa College of Law in 1983.
After graduating from law school, LaFortune began his legal career as a contracts administrator for Telex Computer Products, Inc. During his tenure there, he rose through the ranks, quickly becoming Senior Contracts Administrator. Then, in 1987, he was named assistant attorney general for the Oklahoma Office of the Attorney General. LaFortune held assignments in the Civil Division, representing the State Auditor and Inspector’s Office, the Department of Transportation, the Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement Board, the Oklahoma Military Department, and the Merit Protection Commission. He also organized and impaneled Oklahoma’s first multi-county grand jury.
LaFortune transferred to the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office in 1988. As an assistant district attorney, LaFortune was assigned to the Juvenile Division, prosecuting child abuse and neglect cases. He was named Chief of the Juvenile Division before becoming a Felony Team Prosecutor for the Criminal Division. Then, in 1990, LaFortune returned to the Oklahoma Office of the Attorney General, sitting as the Administrative Chief of the Tulsa Bureau.
His memberships have included the Tulsa County Bar Association. He also served on the boards of the Tulsa Psychiatric Center, Operation Aware, the Child Abuse Network, the Arthritis Foundation for Eastern Oklahoma, and the Tulsa Boys’ Home.
He is a recipient of the Robert J. LaFortune Award from the Indian Nations Council of Governments (2017).
Born and raised in Tulsa County, LaFortune attended Cascia Hall Preparatory School. He is the grandson of Joseph LaFortune, an oil executive and noted philanthropist in Tulsa. LaFortune is married to Dr. Kathy LaFortune, a forensic psychologist. He served as Mayor of the City of Tulsa (2002 to 2006) and has three adult children.
He is registered as a Republican.