District: 1
Hometown: Tulsa, Oklahoma; Tulsa County
Birthplace: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Children: Ed Parks, III; Carolyn Ann Fredericks Parks
Ed Parks, Jr. graduated from Tulsa Central High School in 1939 and received his B.S. degree in 1947 and LL.B. degree in 1950 from the University of Tulsa. Parks served with the Marine Corps during World War II in Korea and was discharged with the rank of Captain. Parks served as Assistant County Attorney for Tulsa County from 1953-1957. From 1977 to 1984 Parks served as a Judge of the Trial Division of the Court on the judiciary, and as a member of the Appellate Division of the Court on the Judiciary from 1985 to 1987.
He became a partner in the law firm of Boyd and Parks in Tulsa with a general civil and criminal practice until his appointment to the Court of Criminal Appeals on April 27, 1984, by Governor George Nigh. He was retained for six-year term by voters in a state wide elections in 1986.
He was a member of the Oklahoma Criminal Defense Lawyers Association and is listed in the Criminal Defense Section of Outstanding Lawyers of the United States. He was also a member of the Tulsa County Bar Association; Oklahoma Bar Association, Vice Chairman, Criminal Law Section, Chairman of the Indigent Defense Committee; Trustee and Fellow of the Oklahoma Bar Foundation; Oklahoma Trial Lawyers Association; Tulsa Trial Lawyers Association; and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. He was voted Outstanding Appellate Judge by the Oklahoma Trial Lawyers Association in 1986 and 1988.