Executive Director
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Texas Municipal Courts Education Center
Deadra Stark
512.320.8274
stark@tmcec.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ryan Kellus Turner Selected as Executive Director of Texas Municipal Courts Education Center
Austin, Texas, September 27, 2019 – Texas Municipal Courts Education Center (TMCEC) has announced the selection of Ryan Kellus Turner as executive director.
Since 2004, Turner has served as TMCEC general counsel and director of education. He succeeds Hope Lochridge who served as executive director for 28 years and who retired in August.
“At the TMCEC/TMCA board meeting this past week Ryan Turner was hired to be the new executive director by a unanimous vote of the Board. Ryan was selected as the top choice from over 100 applications based on his experience and knowledge,” says Judge Stewart Milner, TMCEC President.
A native Texan, raised in Vernon, Turner has more than two decades of experience working in Texas courts, judicial education, criminal justice, and government. He has been licensed to practice law since 1998. He obtained his juris doctorate from Southern Methodist University and his bachelor's degree in psychology with highest honors from St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas where he has served as an adjunct faculty member in the School of Behavioral and Social Sciences. Prior to joining TMCEC in 1999, he was a briefing attorney for Judge Sharon Keller at the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
Turner is currently a collaborative council member for the Texas Judicial Commission on Mental Health and an advisory member on the Texas Judicial Council Juvenile Justice Committee. In 2015-2016, he served on the Texas Judicial Council Committee on Pretrial Issues. In 2012, he was Co-Chair of the Texas Judicial Council Legislative Subcommittee on Juvenile Justice. He is a substitute associate judge on the Austin Municipal Court.
Turner has written more than 70 published articles pertaining to criminal law, criminal procedure, municipal law, and juvenile justice. He is also the co-author of the books The Municipal Judges Book and Lone Star Justice: A Comprehensive Overview of the Texas Criminal Justice System. In 2018, he received the State Bar of Texas Nancy L. Garms Memorial Award which recognizes the dedication of an attorney or judge to the advancement of local political and legal education in Texas. He is the 2016 recipient of the State Bar of Texas Outstanding Government Lawyer Award.
ABOUT TMCEC: The Texas Municipal Courts Education Center (TMCEC) was formed in 1984 by the Texas Municipal Courts Association (TMCA) to provide extensive continuing professional education and training programs for municipal judges and court personnel. TMCEC is financed by a grant from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals out of funds appropriated to the Judicial and Court Personnel Training Fund.
TMCEC is one of the largest organizations of its kind in the United States. It sponsors more than 50 events annually and provides professional and law-related education to more than 5,000 people. TMCEC has an outstanding cadre of faculty members that consists of judges, attorneys, and other professionals from throughout the nation. TMCEC takes pride in the quality and content of its conferences and work product. It has earned the praise of judges, attorneys, policy makers, and court professionals throughout the nation and the Lone Star State.