ALEC-FreedomWorks Legislator of the Week
State Representative James White is a native Texan born in Houston, TX. He graduated with honors from Prairie View A&M University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and completed his doctorate in political science at the University of Houston. The United States Congress commissioned Rep. White as an officer of Infantry in the U.S. Army and he was assigned to the Berlin Brigade from 1987-90 during the demise of the Soviet Union.
After leaving the Army, Rep. White began a career as a public school educator in the Houston area. He taught United States history, Texas history, and geography at the secondary level, as well as U.S. Government and Economics at the collegiate and high school level. Rep. White coached high school football, basketball, and soccer and officiated youth sports.
Rep. White was first elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 2010, serves as Vice Chair of the House Committee on Corrections and sits on the Juvenile Justice and Family Issues, Emerging Issues in Texas Law Enforcement, Mental Health, and Transportation Planning committees. Rep. White is an active member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) Task Force on Criminal Justice Reform, and works both at ALEC and in the Texas State Legislature to bring reforms to the criminal justice system and correctional institutions. He has passed legislation for police body cameras; authorizing curriculum requirements and educational credit leading to a high school diploma or certificate for juvenile offenders in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice; established criminal charges for improper sexual conduct with juveniles in custody; and has sponsored numerous bills relating to human trafficking.
Not all of his work is done in a legislative body, however. Rep. White also works closely with the Prison Entrepreneurship Program, an inmate partnership program that provides in-prison leadership academies, mini-MBA boot camps and post-release support that instills men with skills and a network to help them be successful upon their release.
In his personal life, Rep. White maintains a small cattle ranch in Tyler County, a county he is proud to call home, and he worships at Hillister Baptist Church in Hillister, TX. He is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, and the Texas Farm Bureau.