I pulled these three:
State Rep. James White.
He is one of 150 members of the Texas House of Representatives, and represents district 19 - a single member district, as they all are.
- Here is a link to his page on the house home page, click here.
- For Texas House of Representative, click here.
- For info on district 19 from the Texas Tribune, click here.
- For info on district 19 from Ballotpedia, click here. This link also contains election info. He had to be renominated by his party in the primary election for the general election in November. The district has been gerrymandered to be a safe Republican seat.
- Rules regarding elections in Texas are passed by the legislature, and are contained in the Electoral Code.
- Elections are conducted by the counties.
Texas House Corrections Committee
White is the chair of this committee, meaning he presides over its meeting and sets its agenda. He was appointed to the committee, and to be its chair by the Speaker of the House. The speaker gets to do that to all other committees as well
Texas House Rules (click here for that document) give this committee jurisdiction over the following:
Section 5. Corrections — The committee shall have nine members, with
jurisdiction over all matters pertaining to:
(1) the incarceration and rehabilitation of convicted felons;
(2) the establishment and maintenance of programs that provide
alternatives to incarceration; and
(3) the following state agencies: the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice, the Special Prosecution Unit, the Board of Pardons and Paroles, the
Texas Civil Commitment Office, and the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders
with Medical or Mental Impairments.
White is also a member - but not the chair - of these committees:
- Driver's License Issuance & Renewal, Select
- Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence
- Redistricting
Hillister Republican
White is a member of the Republican Party, which means he initially placed himself on the ballot of of the Republican Party in each of the counties his district represents. He was selected by the people who voted in the Republican Primary, and then won the general election.
He is from Hillister, an unincorporated community in east Texas - Tyler County. Click here for more on Hillister.
As a member of the Republican Party, he is in the majority. Which means he can be more effective than if he was a Democrat, since they are in the minority.
