Seminole State College has hired Paul B. Smith, J.D. and Dr. Brenda Prochaska as Assistant Professors in the College’s Social Sciences Division. Smith, a former District Attorney for Oklahoma’s 22nd Judicial District, will help the College prepare to launch an Associate in Applied Science in Paralegal Studies in August 2026.
Smith served as District Attorney for District 22 — which includes Seminole, Hughes and Pontotoc counties — from January 2017 to January 2023. He previously held leadership roles in the office, including First Assistant District Attorney and Chief Prosecutor beginning in 2011, and Assistant District Attorney from 1990 to 2011.
During his tenure, Smith prosecuted major felony cases across the district, including a 2017 “no-body” child-abuse murder case — a homicide pursued without the victim’s remains — that drew state and national attention. He also led or participated in appellate and policy work related to jurisdictional changes following McGirt v. Oklahoma. He was admitted to the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018, authorizing him to file briefs and appear before the court.
SSC plans to begin the Paralegal Studies A.A.S. in August 2026. The 62-credit-hour program will cover core areas of civil and criminal law, including constitutional law, contracts, real estate and property, torts, family law, wills and estates, criminal law and procedure, and civil law and procedure. Coursework will emphasize legal research and writing, legal reporting, law-office calendaring and client-trust accounting.
The SSC Board of Regents approved the program in late spring, and it is slated for approval by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education at their meeting in October.
“The program will give students and graduates a practical glimpse into their new legal, governmental or non-profit profession,” Smith said. “They will develop the skills to carry out legal work tasks that their attorney bosses assign them. Our graduates will have a keen understanding of the complexities of contracts, civil litigation, criminal law and procedure, Constitutional ramifications of decisions and much more. This will give them the confidence to help those whose lives have intersected with the law.”
Before joining the faculty full time, Smith taught as an adjunct in SSC’s Social Sciences Division, including courses in Rules of Evidence and American Federal Government, and has instructed for Oklahoma CLEET reserve academies. He earned his J.D. from the University of Tulsa College of Law and a B.S. in business administration from Oklahoma State University.
Prochaska joins SSC following seven years on the faculty at Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio, where she served as associate professor of criminal justice and co-director of the Tower Honors Program. Her campus service included roles as assessment liaison for the School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and membership on the Faculty Senate Executive Committee.
“What specifically motivated me to come to SSC was the size, the mission statement, and the values of the College. I have a passion for preparing students to be successful in all aspects of their lives, including teaching them how to think critically about real-world problems, communicate with others who may bring a different perspective and to understand that learning is something that does not stop after formal education is complete,” Prochaska said.
Her scholarship includes two peer-reviewed journal articles, a third article forthcoming, and a book chapter published in 2022. Topics include political participation and crime, maternal incarceration and delinquency and perceptions of cyberbullying.
Prochaska has delivered dozens of conference presentations since 2013, including recent talks at the Ohio Council of Criminal Justice Education, the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences and the American Society of Criminology.
Her teaching experience covers a range of undergraduate courses — among them Introduction to Criminal Justice, Criminological Theory, Methods of Field Research, Juvenile Delinquency, Constitutional Law and Criminal Law and Procedure — delivered in multiple formats.
Prochaska earned a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2018 and an M.A. in Criminal Justice from the same institution in 2016. She holds a B.S. in criminal justice from Northeastern State University, awarded in 2013.
“In my first year, my biggest goal is to build partnerships with criminal justice agencies in the community so I can bring in guest speakers but more importantly help students build their networks early,” Prochaska said.
For more information about the Social Sciences Division or the Paralegal Studies program planned for August 2026, visit sscok.edu.