Bernice Compton Mitchell was the first African American woman to be elected as County Commissioner in Payne County, Oklahoma and only the second woman in the state of Oklahoma to serve in this position. She served from 1986 until 1996. Mitchell also chaired the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women and served a time as the President of the Oklahoma Women's Political Caucus. She was inducted into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame in 1995.