David Riggs (politician)
{{Short description|American politician and attorney}}
{{ infobox officeholder
| state_house = Oklahoma
| district = 66th
| term_start = 1971
| term_end = 1986
| predecessor = Clyde E. Browers
| successor = Russ Roach
| state_senate = Oklahoma
| district1 = 66th
| term_start1 = March 23, 1987
| term_end1 = 1988
| predecessor1 = Robert E. Hopkins
| successor1 = Lewis Long Jr.
| birth_place = Sand Springs, Oklahoma, U.S.
| education = {{plainlist|
}}
}}
David M. Riggs is an American politician and attorney who served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives and the Oklahoma Senate.
Biography
David M. Riggs was born and raised in Sand Springs, Oklahoma. He graduated from Phillips University, earned a master's degree in philosophy at the University of Oklahoma and a juris doctor from the University of Tulsa College of Law.{{cite news |last1=Greiner |first1=John |title=Riggs: Man of Quality, But Unknown Quantity |url=https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/1983/08/28/riggs-man-of-quality-but-unknown-quantity/62833530007/ |access-date=January 30, 2025 |work=The Oklahoman |date=August 28, 1983}} In 1972 he founded the law firm Riggs Abney alongside three law school classmates.{{cite news |title=Leadership in Law profile: M. David Riggs |url=https://journalrecord.com/2018/04/25/leadership-in-law-profile-m-david-riggs/ |access-date=January 30, 2025 |work=The Journal Record |date=April 25, 2018}}
Riggs represented the 66th district of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1971 to 1986. On March 23, 1987 he won a special election to represent the 37th district of the Oklahoma Senate. He was a member of the Democratic Party.{{cite web |title=Oklahoma History |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060218215829/http://www.odl.state.ok.us/almanac/2005/14-histry.pdf |access-date=August 8, 2024}} In 1973, he headed a task force looking into the riot at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. He also wrote the Oklahoma Dispute Resolution Act and Oklahoma Open Records Act and co-wrote the Oklahoma Open Meetings Act and Oklahoma Ethics Commission Act. He retired from the legislature in 1988.
Riggs was considered a liberal for supporting prison reform, opposing the death penalty, and supporting the Equal Rights Amendment, although he also opposed abortion, gambling, and alcohol and drug use.
References
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Category:20th-century members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives
Category:20th-century members of the Oklahoma Legislature
Category:Democratic Party members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives
Category:Democratic Party Oklahoma state senators
Category:People from Sand Springs, Oklahoma
Category:Phillips University alumni