[4] After becoming a member of the bar, Owen began practicing in the small communities of Vian and Muldrow, before moving to Muskogee, Oklahoma in 1896.
In 1901, he joined the law firm of Soper & Huckleberry in Muskogee and after statehood, served as political manager for Charles Haskell, who was seeking election as the first governor of the state.
In 1912, Owen was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Baltimore, supporting Woodrow Wilson as the party's presidential candidate.
[6] Owen was appointed Associate Justice on the Oklahoma Supreme Court by Governor Robert L. Williams, serving from 1917 to 1919.
Robert H. Wilson, state superintendent of education and allegedly supported by the Ku Klux Klan also campaigned for the Democratic nomination.