Clark Jolley comes from fairly modest roots.  The son of a farm boy from southern Georgia and a secretary from southeast Oklahoma, Clark grew up in a small three bedroom house in Del City, Oklahoma.  Clark’s father, Paul, was a World War II veteran and instilled in him the values of hard work and caring for his family, state and country.  Clark’s mom, Margaret, was a secretary who grew up in a section house in Grant, Oklahoma and taught Clark the value of being grateful for what we’ve been provided.

Born at Baptist Hospital in Oklahoma City, Clark attended public schools in Del City, finally graduating from Del City High School.  Four years later, he walked across the stage at Oklahoma Baptist University with two Bachelor degrees, one in Music Education and one in Political Science. After working in the Washington offices of Senator David Boren and Congressman Mickey Edwards between semesters, he made the decision to return home and not attend school out of state.  He graduated law school at the University of Oklahoma and established a private law practice upon graduation from law school in 1995. Within two years, he was appointed as an Administrative Law Judge for the Oklahoma Department of Labor and later became a Barrister member of the Robert J. Turner American Inn of Court.

Having done his student teaching in the Edmond Public Schools and becoming familiar with the Edmond community through his work at Henderson Hills Baptist Church, Clark made the decision to move permanently to the Edmond area in 1994.  He immediately became an active leader in the Edmond community. With 10 years of moving into one of the state’s most vibrant communities, he was elected to represent them in the Oklahoma Senate.  His service to the community didn’t lessen, though as he served in the legislature.  Even after being elected, he served as the 2006-07 President of the Rotary Club of Edmond, where he was honored as the 2006 recipient of the George Mikesell Rotarian of the Year Award and is a multiple Paul Harris Fellow. As an accomplished musician, Jolley serves as a Worship Assistant at Henderson Hills, where he has been since October, 1990. He also finds time to serve on the board of the Fine Arts Institute of Edmond.

While in law school, he met a girl from Ponca City.  After proposing to her at Oklahoma State’s 2006 homecoming, he married Verlyne Simmons in June, 1997. The two partners in life became partners in law as they expanded his successful solo practice to form a law firm partnership in 1998. When their first child was born, Verlyne went home to become a full time mom.  Today, they have two children, Lauren and Alex, both of whom attend Edmond Public Schools.  Verlyne then went back to work and is now a Senior Analyst at an educational funding company in Edmond.

Clark’s Senate career has blossomed, being elected by his colleagues to serve as a Whip and now serving as Assistant Majority Floor Leader for the Senate.  He has chaired the Education Appropriations Subcommittee and currently is the Chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee. He is the Vice Chair of the Senate Education Committee and is the National Vice Chair of the National Conference of State Legislatures’ Education Committee, where he also sits as a member of the Task Force on Dropout Prevention.