Governor Abbott Names Chair And Appoints Three To Texas Board of Criminal Justice
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has appointed and named Dale Wainwright as Chairman of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice for a term set to expire on February 1, 2021. Governor Abbott additionally appointed Tom G. Fordyce and Derrelynn Perryman for terms set to expire on February 1, 2021. The Texas Board of Criminal Justice provides confinement, supervision, rehabilitation, and reintegration of the state’s convicted felons.
Dale Wainwright is the managing partner of the Austin office of the international law firm of Bracewell & Giuliani LLP. He is an appellate lawyer representing clients in appeals of complex commercial disputes of all types in state and federal courts and administrative appeals of oil and gas and electric utility disputes. Prior to joining Bracewell, Wainwright served on the Texas Supreme Court for 10 years, authoring more than 125 opinions. Elected to the Supreme Court in 2002, he was the third-longest-serving member of the court at the time of his resignation in 2012. Wainwright began his judicial career in 1999 when he was appointed by Governor George W. Bush to preside over the 334th Civil District Court in Houston, Texas. As judge of the 334th District Court, he resolved some 3,000 cases and presided over more than 100 trials. Prior to becoming a jurist, he represented clients at trial and in appeals for more than a decade. Wainwright achieved a number of firsts in his life. He was the first African American in history to reach the Texas Supreme Court by election. He is the first attorney in his family and was the first African American to graduate valedictorian from his high school. Wainwright has been honored with numerous awards such as 2014 Texas Super Lawyer, 2008 Prevent Blindness Texas Person of Vision Award, 2008 National Bar Association Humanitarian Award, 2006 National Black Prosecutors Association Trail Blazer Award and 2000 NAACP Legal Excellence Award. Wainwright graduated summa cum laude from Howard University with his bachelor’s degree in economics. He studied abroad at the London School of Economics as the Lucy Dalbiac Luard Scholar. Wainwright earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago School of Law.
Tom Fordyce is a rancher, cow/calf operator and hay producer. He previously served as a commissioner for the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. Prior to that, Fordyce was the Director of Agribusiness and Land Minerals for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Most notably, Fordyce served in the United States Marines as a Vietnam Era Sniper with the 1st Battalion 26th from 1966 – 1968, and medically retired in March of 1968 due to combat injuries. He currently serves as a board member for the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Lone Survivor Foundation and Huntsville Veterans’ Affairs Advisory Board. Fordyce has previously received gubernatorial appointments to serve on the Trinity River Authority and Texas Assistive and Rehabilitative Services Council. He previously served on the Texas Veterans Commission advisory board, Huntsville Economic Development Council, Brownfield Memorial Hospital Board and KickStart for Kids program board. Fordyce earned his bachelor’s degree in agriculture from Sam Houston State University.
Derrelynn Perryman is the Victim Services Coordinator for the Arlington Police Department, a position she has held since 1994. During her term of service, the Arlington Police Department has been recognized twice by the International Association of Chiefs of Police for excellence in victim services. She also serves as an adjunct instructor for the School of Social Work and the Criminal Justice and Criminology department at The University of Texas at Arlington. Prior to that she served as a therapist at Family Assessment, Consultation and Therapy Service (FACTS), where she developed programs for court ordered offenders, including a Batter’s Intervention Program, and a life skills curriculum for Federal probationers. She is a TCLEOSE certified peace officer instructor and trains officers and first responders regionally. Annually since 2005, Perryman has provided group therapy as a counselor to children who have lost a parent in the line of duty through the Concerns of Police Survivors Kids Camp. Perryman was recognized by the National Association of Social Workers Tarrant County Branch as the 2006 Social Worker of the Year. Perryman has previously held leadership positions as past president of Texas Victim Services Association and co-chairman of the Tarrant County Criminal Justice Plan Committee. She is a former member of the North Central Texas Council of Government’s Criminal Justice Policy Development Committee. She is a member of the Critical Incident Team with Arlington Police Department, National Association of Social Workers, Texas Victim Services Association, Coalition for Crime Victims’ Services, State Advisory Committee on Social Work and Victim Services, Office of the Attorney General’s Crime Victim Services Leadership Council and Tarrant County Council on Family Violence. She formerly volunteered as a foster home for Greyhounds Unlimited. Perryman earned her bachelor’s and master’s degree in social work from The University of Texas at Arlington.