Carol Vance
Encyclopedia
Carol S. Vance is a former district attorney of Harris County (Houston), Texas, from 1966–1979, and a former board member of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, which governs the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
. Vance was born in 1933.
For a period Vance was a resident of the Westbury area of Houston, In 1992 Governor of Texas
Ann Richards
named Vance as the head of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice.
Vance attended Houston public schools and graduated from the law school at the University of Texas in Austin. He served as Harris County assistant district attorney in 1958, shortly after graduating from law school, first under Dan Walton and then under Frank Briscoe.
He was appointed by Governor of Texas
John Connally
to fill the vacated district attorney’s spot when Frank Briscoe resigned to run for Congress in 1966 (Briscoe lost to Republican George H. W. Bush). At age 32, he became the second youngest district attorney in Harris County history (only 21-year-old Peter Gray, chosen in 1842, was younger). He ran in the next election and won the position in his own right.
Vance served as district attorney from 1966 until resigning in 1979. He was unopposed in each of his elections.
/Houston mass murder case, the Joan Robinson Hill/John Hill murder cases, the Deep Throat v. Vance Supreme Court case, the Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Yarbrough impeachment case, the Lee Otis Johnson marijuana possession case, the Texas Southern University riot prosecutions, and the District Judge Garth Bates case.
Vance was known for his work in running a large DA’s office and many of his contributions have been emulated by other prosecutors’ offices around the country.
In the 1990s Vance asked state officials to implement the first Christian faith-based prison program at the Jester II Unit, a prison in Fort Bend County, Texas
. State officials began to implement the program in 1996. The prison was renamed the Carol S. Vance Unit after Vance. In his later years he has done regular prison ministry there, working with Prison Fellowship.
Vance retired as an employee from the law partnership Bracewell & Giuliani. In 2010 the book Boomtown DA, written by Vance, was published by Whitecaps Media.
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice is a department of the government of the state of Texas. The TDCJ is responsible for statewide criminal justice for adult offenders, including managing offenders in state prisons, state jails and private correctional facilities, funding and certain...
. Vance was born in 1933.
For a period Vance was a resident of the Westbury area of Houston, In 1992 Governor of Texas
Governor of Texas
The governor of Texas is the head of the executive branch of Texas's government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Texas Legislature, and to convene the legislature...
Ann Richards
Ann Richards
Dorothy Ann Willis Richards was an American politician from Texas. She first came to national attention as the state treasurer of Texas, when she delivered the keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. Richards served as the 45th Governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995 and was...
named Vance as the head of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice.
Vance attended Houston public schools and graduated from the law school at the University of Texas in Austin. He served as Harris County assistant district attorney in 1958, shortly after graduating from law school, first under Dan Walton and then under Frank Briscoe.
He was appointed by Governor of Texas
Governor of Texas
The governor of Texas is the head of the executive branch of Texas's government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Texas Legislature, and to convene the legislature...
John Connally
John Connally
John Bowden Connally, Jr. , was an influential American politician, serving as the 39th governor of Texas, Secretary of the Navy under President John F. Kennedy, and as Secretary of the Treasury under President Richard M. Nixon. While he was Governor in 1963, Connally was a passenger in the car in...
to fill the vacated district attorney’s spot when Frank Briscoe resigned to run for Congress in 1966 (Briscoe lost to Republican George H. W. Bush). At age 32, he became the second youngest district attorney in Harris County history (only 21-year-old Peter Gray, chosen in 1842, was younger). He ran in the next election and won the position in his own right.
Vance served as district attorney from 1966 until resigning in 1979. He was unopposed in each of his elections.
Trials
Some of the trials Vance was involved in, either as prosecutor or as district attorney, include the Elmer Wayne HenleyElmer Wayne Henley
Elmer Wayne Henley, Jr. is a convicted American serial killer, incarcerated in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice system...
/Houston mass murder case, the Joan Robinson Hill/John Hill murder cases, the Deep Throat v. Vance Supreme Court case, the Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Yarbrough impeachment case, the Lee Otis Johnson marijuana possession case, the Texas Southern University riot prosecutions, and the District Judge Garth Bates case.
Vance was known for his work in running a large DA’s office and many of his contributions have been emulated by other prosecutors’ offices around the country.
Honors
Vance served as president of the National District Attorneys Association and the Texas District and County Attorneys Association. He was selected as a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.In the 1990s Vance asked state officials to implement the first Christian faith-based prison program at the Jester II Unit, a prison in Fort Bend County, Texas
Fort Bend County, Texas
Fort Bend County is a county located along the Gulf Coast region in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. In 2000 its population was 354,452, while the 2010 U.S...
. State officials began to implement the program in 1996. The prison was renamed the Carol S. Vance Unit after Vance. In his later years he has done regular prison ministry there, working with Prison Fellowship.
Vance retired as an employee from the law partnership Bracewell & Giuliani. In 2010 the book Boomtown DA, written by Vance, was published by Whitecaps Media.
External links
- "Bracewell Alum Carol S. Vance Receives Recognition from the Texas Bar Foundation." Bracewell & Giuliani
- "Vance wins Houston Bar volunteer award." Houston Business Journal. Tuesday January 4, 2011.