Steve Mayhan, who has served most recently as bailiff for Garvin County's associate district judge's office, will mark his retirement this week, bringing his 33-year career in law enforcement to a close.
“It’s been a great ride. I’ve loved serving and protecting Garvin County,” Mayhan said. “I love the people. I’ve got a good rapport, even with people I’ve had to deal with on the wrong side of the law, because I’ve always shown them respect.”
He said the most rewarding part of his career in law enforcement has probably been working with youth, showing them respect and watching that respect come back around, sometimes years down the road.
Mayhan said he is often approached on the street by people, both young and old, who want to thank him for the impact he has had on their lives or the respect he showed them in a difficult situation.
“That means a lot to me,” he said.
And that impact has bridged both sides of the law.
Mayhan chuckles as he recounts the story of a young deputy that came to him not long after starting at the sheriff’s office a few years ago and asked Mayhan if he recalled pulling him over when he was in high school.
The deputy remembered Mayhan had asked him if he knew why he had stopped him, to which he responded, “Probably because I was speeding.” He said Mayhan had pointed his finger at the young man and said, “That’s right. Don’t do that again!”
“I started laughing, because I remembered that,” Mayhan said. “I had no idea he’d be one of our deputies about six years down the road. He and I still laugh about that. He said, ‘You made a believer out of me. You scared me.’”
Mayhan has worked for multiple agencies across south-central Oklahoma in the last three decades, including McClain County, Purcell, Lindsay, Davis and Garvin County, where he began his second stint in 2010. He has served as bailiff for Garvin County’s associate district judge since the spring of 2019.
Originally from Wallville area, Mayhan attended school in Lindsay and Maysville, then joined the U.S. Army shortly after graduating. He served for six years, working part of that time as a nuclear, biological, chemical warfare instructor, teaching service members how to prepare for those types of attacks and properly use protective equipment like gas masks.
“It was probably one of the most rewarding positions I had when I was in the military,” he said.
During his time in law enforcement, he said he has been through shootings, standoffs, manhunts, and chases, both on foot and by car.
“I’ve seen a lot. I’ve been through a lot,” Mayhan said, adding that working search and rescue after the 1995 Murrah Building bombing in Oklahoma City was one of the most traumatic assignments of his career. “It was very sobering.”
The memories of what he saw there still bring tears to his eyes.
“It was awful, awful, awful,” he said.
But rather than shake his resolve to serve in law enforcement, Mayhan said the experience solidified it.
“No, as a matter of fact it made me more determined to stop people like him. I hadn’t thought about it, but that’s really what it was. April 1995 changed my life. I was more determined than anything, to put a stop to that kind of stuff.”
In 2018, while on duty at the courthouse, Mayhan had a major stroke. He was taken to a Norman hospital by helicopter, and he temporarily lost the use of an arm and a leg. After many months of recuperation, Mayhan defied the odds and was able to return to duty with no lasting impairment from the stroke.
Then, in 2020 he was among the first cases of COVID-19 to be diagnosed in Garvin County.
“I died twice, the doctors said, and they got me going again,” Mayhan said “That was a rough deal. I was in a coma for about 12 days, and then in the hospital for 31 days. And then in rehab it seems forever.”
He said at one point the doctors told his wife to prepare for a funeral, because they didn’t think he’d come out of it. But he did.
“I give the God all the credit, the Lord Jesus all the credit, because He’s the one that has healed me from my stroke, the doctors helped, but He’s the one that did the healing, and He also brought me out of COVID. And I don’t have any after effects. None,” Mayhan said.
Mayhan and his wife, Becky, will celebrate 44 years of marriage in March.
“They’ve been the best 44 years of my life with my sweetheart,” he said. “It’s been the best decision I ever made. She’s been my strength through all the law enforcement. She’s been my help. She’s been with me in the ER, hurt or messed up. She’s been there.”
He said they are both are looking forward to his retirement.
“She knows that I love the job. She knows I love working and protecting and serving, but she also knows it’s very dangerous,” Mayhan said.
He said he plans to spend the first few months of his retirement traveling with Becky and catching up on projects around the house.
Mayhan is always quick to engage those around him in conversation and has been in the public eye for so long, it is hard to imagine there might something about him that has escaped notice. Even he seems stumped when asked if there is anything about him that might surprise people to know.
But after a few minutes of deep thought he exclaims, “Oh, I know! Back before I became a Christian, way back there in my teenage years, I was a hippie,” he said. “I was not a nice person. But after I got saved and gave my life to God, He changed every bit of that.”
