Lawton City Council appoints James Lang Hooton to fill Ward 1 seat after resignation

The Lawton City Council appointed James Lang Hooton to the Ward 1 council seat following a resignation announced during a special meeting. Council members voted to install Hooton effective Sept. 23, 2025; he will serve until a successor is elected at the next possible municipal election.

Councilmember Hankins Booker announced during the meeting that her resignation would be effective Sept. 25. "I want to announce that my resignation will be effective September 25," Booker said during the Ward 1 report. Booker later affirmed the resignation in executive session, saying, "I'm resigning." The council convened in executive session under Title 25, Section 307(B)(1) of the Oklahoma Statutes to discuss candidates and to interview applicants for the Ward 1 vacancy.

After the executive-session interviews, a councilmember moved to appoint James Lang Hooton to fill the vacancy. The motion passed on a roll-call vote. Chapman, Gill, Hampton, Williams and Warren voted yes; Hankins Booker recorded an abstention and stated her reason for abstaining. The mayor announced that the motion carried.

The appointment fills the immediate representation gap the council said it sought to avoid during the vacancy period. Under the motion, Hooton's term begins Sept. 23, 2025, and continues until a successor is elected at the next municipal election. The council did not specify further details about Hooton's background in the meeting record available in the transcript.

The council moved to adjourn following the appointment. No additional actions related to Ward 1 were recorded in the meeting transcript.