Most people I talk with are aware that Edmond has its own municipal court, with its own municipal judge. But many are unaware of the difference between a municipal court and a district court. And others don’t know how widely respected Edmond’s municipal court is.

    That will end this week at the Rotary Club of Edmond when we welcome Judge Alan E. Synar as our special guest speaker. Judge Synar has been a Municipal Judge in Edmond since 1988, and has served as Edmond’s Presiding Municipal Judge since 1993. As such, he presides over Edmond’s criminal, traffic, and juvenile court, which he helped develop in 1994.

    Judge Synar has been a leader among judges. This is shown by the fact that the United States Department of Justice, American University, the Justice Management Institute, the National Legal Aid & Defender Association, and the Pretrial Services Resource Center have recognized the Edmond Municipal Juvenile Court as a “Model Court” nationally.  Edmond is the only Oklahoma Court of any size to receive that honor.

    Judge Synar received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting in 1976 from the University of Oklahoma and a Juris Doctorate degree in 1979 from the University of Oklahoma School of Law. When not on the bench, he practices law at Edmond Law Center with an emphasis in the areas of construction law, telecommunications, commercial litigation, contract litigation, professional liability law, employment law, family law, probate and estate planning.

    He is married to Lisa Synar, who is the Executive Director of Oklahoma City Beautiful. The Synars have 2 children, Lauren, who is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma and an event planner in New York City, and Cliff, who is a freshman at the University of Oklahoma majoring in Drama.

Please give a warm Rotary Club of Edmond welcome to the Presiding Municipal Judge of Edmond, Alan Synar.

Andy