As a tax attorney and Oklahoma senator, fifth-generation Oklahoman Brent Howard still finds time to work the family farm.
Growing up on the land his great-great-grandparents home- steaded before statehood, Howard’s strong connection to the community has led him to the State Legislature.
When Howard’s ancestors settled the 320-acre parcel east of Navajo School in 1892, the area was still part of Texas.
“We’re still farming the original homestead,” Howard said proudly. “Over the years, we’ve expanded, and our farm is right under 3,000 operating acres right now.”
Along with acres of cropland used for hay and wheat, Howard Farms is home to several hundred head of commercial cattle. Howard has spent countless hours working on the tractors.
Away from the farm, Howard’s parents were involved in county government which piqued his political interest, but it wasn’t until later that he would take the initiative to seek office.
“Dad (former Jackson County Commissioner Bob Howard) was instrumental in getting our Expo Center here in Jackson County, the new Health Department as well as all the plans for the County Jail. All of those were updated in his tenure,” said Howard.
Howard’s mother, Renee, served as Jackson County treasurer from 2010 to 2018. “I was hoping she would run again so we could be on the same ballot,” said Howard. “But she decided to retire instead.”
Working the family farm from a young age, Howard became more interested in how things work mechanically. His critical thinking skills are defined in his career as a tax attorney and as a state senator who is on committees for Agriculture and Wildlife, General Government, the Judiciary as well as the subcommittee on budgeting for Health and Human Services.
Graduating from Navajo High School in 2000, Howard was valedictorian and class president of the 44-member graduating class.
“Education goes a long way in our family,” said Howard. Both of his paternal grandparents graduated from Oklahoma A&M. Howard, his dad and both of Howard’s siblings have received degrees from Oklahoma State University as well.
With undergrad degrees in agribusiness and accounting in 2004, Howard was chosen as one of the OSU’s Seniors of Significance. He then earned his juris doctor from the University of Oklahoma Law School.
At the recommendation of his tax professors at OU, Howard applied to New York University, where, in 2009, he received an LL.M. in taxation. NYU’s taxation program is the most prestigious in the country, said Howard. Acceptance rate into the LL.M. taxation program is about 12-15%, he estimates.
“I flew to New York on a Saturday,” said Howard. “The Thursday before, I was on a tractor plowing a field on our river bottom.”
After NYU, Howard passed the New York State Bar Exam, but decided to return to Oklahoma rather than practice in the Empire State. He lived and practiced in Oklahoma City for two and a half years before returning to be closer to family and friends.
In December 2011 he opened his office in Altus and began presenting seminars on estate planning and helping farmers with tax and succession planning.
Howard also joined Oklahoma Agriculture Leadership Program, where he met Jennifer, whom he later married. The couple has made their home in Altus.
“During that time, I really became more involved with our community,” he said. “I started with my church, First United Methodist of Altus, and then Sen. Schulz appointed me to the Board of Regents for Western Oklahoma State College.”
Becoming more involved with budgeting as well as local politics, former President Pro Tempore Mike Schulz and Rep. Charles Ortega encouraged Howard to run for the senate seat when Schulz was term limited.
Over the past two years, Howard has worked to modify the 2013 Home Bakery Act and expand on the direct sale of beef and raw meat products. “Prior to, I could sell you a live calf, and you would have to line it out with the butcher to get it processed. We’re changing it around so that now I can get it processed and directly sell the meat to you. With the availability of USDA inspections and what we can have statewide, we’re trying to expand [and] line out how those inspections will work.”
“Jellies and jams – there were just a lot of things that were regulated. If you didn’t come to my farm I couldn’t sell you those things. The biggest part of it is that we could sell to a cooperative and the cooperative could consign for farmers.”
The expansion of cooperatives to cities such as Edmond, Norman and Tulsa has proven beneficial to farmers and producers, Howard said.
Howard’s work in the Judiciary committee includes expanding the availability of contracts for gestational carriers which would help families that are struggling having children.
“Gestational carriers are not biologically related to the child,” he said. “Typically, a surrogate forgoes her parental interest; with a gestational carrier, she never has a parental interest because there’s no biological relation.”
Howard has also been part of the initiative to change Quartz Mountain funding from the State Board of Regents back to the state Tourism department.
After fire destroyed the lodge in 1997, Sen. Bob Kerr and Rep. Howard Cotner were able to move Quartz Mountain funding from the Tourism department to the state Board of Regents. However, since Tourism didn’t oversee it, Quartz Mountain – one of the five original state parks build in the late forties and early fifties – was not listed in the tour guides, he said.
Without sufficient advertising, the underutilized facilities have fallen in disrepair. For about the last five years, there has been a local goal to get it back into Tourism to promote the area, said Howard.
“That was a good piece of legislation we were able to pass this year,” he said. “Representative Ortega and I were able to work with our budget chairs this year, and as of October 1, Quartz Mountain will move back into Tourism. And there will be $3 million for repairs and maintenance.”
Around the community, once Howard became senator, he “statutorily had to get off the board of regents for WOSC” and resign from his position as the state chairman for Oklahoma Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers program.
“I’m still active in my church” said Howard. “I had been chairman of finance committee, but being in Oklahoma City six months out of the year, its hard to conduct meetings and be here. I’m still on the Military Affairs Committee for Altus Chamber of Commerce and Altus Rotary.”
Howard would like to see younger people move back into the area. “There’s opportunity here,” he said. “People just need to see it, create it and maximize it.”