CINDY
Cindy has lived in North Texas all her life. She’s devoted her time, energy, and strength to becoming someone who can serve her community and make it safer.
She started her career right here at Tarrant County Community College. After that, she put herself through college and law school. Her experience goes back decades. She has worked as a police officer and was elected to be a district attorney. She’s been the chief of a mental health division. That division watched over the criminal mental health trials in Dallas County. As the DNA attorney for the internationally famous Dallas Conviction Integrity Unit, she reviewed over 500 cases and helped to free numerous individuals who were wrongfully convicted. Dallas County then went on the prosecute the real perpetrators. She is a retired professor who taught government, law, criminal justice, and many other classes. She is an author of law books. Because of her knowledge, she is often asked to speak to professional groups and write for professional magazines.
In her off time she plays classical guitar and piano. You might see her outside working in her garden when she isn’t campaigning.
Her many years of experience and hard work give her the special skills needed to bring fair and caring justice to everyone in Tarrant County.
In her off time she plays classical guitar and piano. You might see her outside working in her garden when she isn’t campaigning.
Her many years of experience and hard work give her the special skills needed to bring fair and caring justice to everyone in Tarrant County.
CAREER JOURNEY
- Former Assistant District Attorney - Dallas – 2008 to 2015
- Former Super Chief, Chief of the Administrative Division supervising eleven attorneys, five investigators and over one hundred and thirty support staff; Chief Financial Officer over budgets of approximately fifty million dollars (supervising the following Divisions: Checks, Mental Health, Technology, Financial Services, Support Staff, Records, Human Resources, Grants, Animal Cruelty, Truancy, Toll Tag Enforcement, Victim/Witness, Justice of the Peace Courts, and Court of Appeals One). Responding to audits on the local, State, and federal level.
- Former Chief of the Mental Health Division, overseeing the mental health trial docket in all criminal courts in Dallas County.
- Former DNA/Conviction Integrity Attorney for Dallas County’s internationally famous Conviction Integrity Unit (investigated and re‑evaluated hundreds of cases to determine if there were wrongfully convicted persons in Texas prisons, special emphasis on DNA).
- Former Elected District Attorney, 235th Judicial District, Cooke County Texas. January 2005 through October 2008. Supervising attorneys, support staff and an investigator. Managing a budget of over $300,000. Felony trials, civil forfeitures, protective orders, probation revocations, appeals, grand jury, budget preparation, grant writing, presentations to Commissioner’s Court, preparation of legislation, fundraising, etc..
- Attorney in Private Practice, Gainesville, Texas - October 1990 - 2004, General Practice. Includes work in criminal defense and as a Special Prosecutor.
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Cindy Stormer sitting to the right of Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins in the courtroom for the Christopher Scott exoneration in 2009 when she was the Conviction Integrity Attorney for the Dallas District Attorney's office. After 12 years of wrongful incarceration, Stormer was the first attorney that reviewed the case, determined it was wrongful, and took measures to reverse the error. The real murderers were then prosecuted.
Christopher Scott later walked the Red Carpet with Hillary Swank for her movie “Conviction”. |
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Appeared in a documentary in real‑time, Dallas DNA, which has aired on the Investigation Discovery Channel and others since 2009.
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EDUCATOR
Governor Mark White (one of the great governors of Texas) and Cindy Stormer when she was a Tarrant County Assistant District Attorney.
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College Instructor, North Central Texas College Gainesville, Texas, 1992 - 2008 - Teaching:
College Professor, Tarrant County College 1986 - present - Teaching:
Ten years experience in Police Work, police officer (Advanced Certificate, patrol officer, corporal, training officer, investigator, Crime Stoppers Representative, Licensed Crime Prevention Inspector), communications supervisor. Spanish: Minor in college. Conversational Spanish. |
PHILANTHROPY
Cindy Stormer in front of the Potola Palace (former home of the Dalai Llama) where she taught Legal Ethics for the first legal delegation from U.S. allowed into Tibet; in Lhasa, Tibet. (white hat, back row, right side) (with State Bar President Perez, Texas Supreme Court Justice Raul Gonzales, and the Honorable Malena Calderon). This was President Dwight Eisenhower's People to People Program.
ARTICLES AND PRESENTATIONS
- Mental Health – Therapeutic Justice, Texas Association of Drug Court Professionals Annual Conference at Montgomery, Texas 2015
- Mental Health for Mental Health Awareness Week for the public, DeSoto High School 2014
- Mental Health, Therapeutic Justice, Advanced Criminal Law course, Author 2013
- Mental Health, Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (2014)
- Mental Health, Dallas District Attorney’s Office, Speaker 2010, 2014 (also to Family Violence Advocates 2014, Misdemeanor 2014)
- Courtroom Procedures, Dallas Fire Department K9 Conference, Speaker 2012
- Conviction Integrity, at the Center for American and International Law, Speaker 2009
- Conviction Integrity for the American Bar Committee for Indigent Defense, Speaker 2009
- Legal Ethics for the first legal delegation from U.S. allowed into Tibet; Lhasa, Tibet, Speaker 2006
- Confessions for the State Bar of Texas Professional Development Program Advanced Criminal Law course, Author/Speaker 2006;
- Confessions, Basic Prosecutor’s course in Austin, sponsored by the Texas District and County Attorney’s Association, Author/Speaker 1988;
- Sexual Discrimination in Hiring Practices in Police Departments published in the Texas Police Journal, Campus Law Enforcement Journal, Police Woman and California Peace Officer’s Association Newspaper, 1986. On file with (as per their request): the United States Department of Labor; The Police Foundation; The Texas Commission of Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education; The National Organization for Women and Combined Law Enforcement Association of Texas.
- Civil Liability, Dallas Police Academy, Speaker 1989 - 1990
- Confessions, Dallas Police Academy, Speaker 1989 - 1990
- Constitutional Law, Dallas Police Academy, Speaker 1989 - 1990
- Texas Penal Code, Dallas Police Academy, Speaker 1989 – 1990
- Law of Search and Seizure, Dallas Police Academy 1989- 1990; Regional Police Academy, Tarrant County
- Recent Cases in the Courts, Regional Police Academy - Tarrant County; Dallas Police Academy, Speaker 1989-1990
- Mental Health, Dallas D.A. Junior Prosecutor Academy, Speaker 2013
- Mental Health, Dallas D.A. Citizens Academy, Speaker 2013
- Mental Health; Courtroom Testimony, Dallas Fire Department, Dallas Police Academy 2013, 2014
MORE ARTICLES
- Selected by Texas Department of State Health Services to assist in developing a Jail Based Competency Restoration program as mandated by the Legislature (SB 1475 in 2013) which resulted in Dallas receiving the grant for same 2014;
- Review proposed legislation regarding mental health;
- “Above and Beyond” award 2009, Dallas District Attorney’s Office;
- Planning Committee, State Bar Advanced Criminal Law Course (2006, 2007 and 2008);
- Distinguished Alumni of Tarrant County College, 2004;
AWARDS
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Cindy Stormer receiving the Distinguished Alumni of Tarrant County College award from the College President. Her name is on a plaque in the College Library North East Campus Tarrant County with Senator Wendy Davis.
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- Fellow of the Texas State Bar Foundation since 2003 (awarded to one third of one percent of Texas Attorneys);
- Attorney Ad Litem of the Year, Court Appointed Special Advocates of North Texas, Inc. for 2001;
- Vice President, Business and Professional Women, Cooke County, 2007-2008;
- President, Cooke County Women’s Bar Association 2002- 2003;
- President and Treasurer, Cooke County Bar Association 2002 - 2003;
- President and Treasurer, Cooke County Child Welfare Board;
- Founder and Former Director - Texas Association for Women Police 1984-1986;
- Former State Coordinator - International Association of Women Police 1984;
- Hold over 800 hours of police "in-service" police training, including the F.B.I. Academy in Quantico, Virginia.
- Outstanding Young Woman of America for 1985 and 1988;
- Who’s Who in American Law 1990, 1997, 1998, 2003 and 2004; 2005-2006; 2007-2008; Who’s Who in America 2004;
- Top score in Trial Advocacy in law school;
- Served as Court Clerk and acting Judge for the Honorable Peggy Kenyon, City Judge in Bridgeport, Texas.
- Served as a special prosecutor in Cooke County (1996 through 2000); instructor at Leadership Lake Kiowa; Leadership Gainesville, and Court Appointed Special Advocates.
- Licensed: United States Supreme Court; State Bar of Texas; United States District Court-Eastern District; United States District Court-Northern District; Kansas.
- Appellate experience: United States Supreme Court; United States District Courts; Courts of Appeals in Texas: Second (Fort Worth); Fourth (San Antonio); Fifth (Dallas); Sixth (Texarkana); Seventh (Amarillo); Eighth (El Paso); Ninth (Beaumont); Tenth (Waco); Eleventh (Eastland), authoring over three hundred appellate briefs.
PUBLICATIONS
- Selected by Texas Department of State Health Services to assist in developing a Jail Based Competency Restoration program as mandated by the Legislature (SB 1475 in 2013) which resulted in Dallas receiving the grant for same 2014;
*“Above and Beyond” award, Dallas District Attorney’s Office;
* Planning Committee, State Bar Advanced Criminal Law Course;
* Distinguished Alumni of Tarrant County College;
* Fellow of the Texas State Bar Foundation since 2003;
* Attorney Ad Litem of the Year, Court Appointed Special Advocates of North Texas, Inc.;
*Former State Coordinator - International Association of Women Police;
* Hold over 800 hours of police "in-service" training, including the F.B.I. Academy in Quantico, Virginia.
*Outstanding Young Woman of America;
*Who’s Who in American Law (9 years);
*Who’s Who in America;
*Top score in Trial Advocacy in law school;
*President and Treasurer, Cooke County Bar Association;
*President and Treasurer, Cooke County Child Welfare Board;
*Founder and Former Director - Texas Association for Women Police;
Sexual Discrimination in Hiring Practices in Police Departments published in the Texas Police Journal, Campus Law Enforcement Journal, Police Woman and California Peace Officer’s Association Newspaper, 1986. On file with (as per their request): the United States Department of Labor; The Police Foundation; The Texas Commission of Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education; The National Organization for Women and Combined Law Enforcement Association of Texas. - Several articles published, including articles in the Texas Police Journal, Campus Law Enforcement Journal, and Police Woman. Numerous legal cases published. Forms published in the Texas Appellate Practice Manual.
- Numerous poems published in poetry anthologies. Editor’s Choice Award for Outstanding Achievement in Poetry presented by the International Library of Poetry
- Member: League of Women Voters of Tarrant County Texas; CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) Board Member and served on the executive committee
- Cooke County Planning Committee; Gainesville Rotary
- Served on the Criminal Justice Advisory Committee at the Texoma Council of Governments to help obtain state funding for the Cooke County community
- League of Women Voters; United Way volunteer; DASH (Disabled Seniors) volunteer; VISTO (Volunteers in Service to Others - Leaders who serve) volunteer
- Downtown Development Association of Gainesville
- College of the State Bar; Life Member of the National Registry of Who’s Who
- National Nominating Committee for Outstanding Young Women of America and Young Men of America Awards; West Texas Legal Services Pro Bono Committee
- Former Legal Assisting Advisory Board member (determining legal curriculum), Cooke County College; Texas Trial Lawyers Association
- American Bar Association
- Tarrant County Bar Association
- Cooke County Home Hospice Advisory Board
- Gainesville Chamber of Commerce, Gold Coat Ambassador
EDUCATION
English Legal and Common Law, College of Law, London, England,
J.D., South Texas College of Law, Dean's List
B.A., University of Texas at Arlington Graduate with Honors
A.A., Tarrant County College, Fort Worth, Graduate with Highest Honors, Dean's List
English Legal and Common Law, College of Law, London, England,
J.D., South Texas College of Law, Dean's List
B.A., University of Texas at Arlington Graduate with Honors
A.A., Tarrant County College, Fort Worth, Graduate with Highest Honors, Dean's List
Pol. Ad. Paid for by Cindy Stormer Campaign, Josh Lucas, Treasurer, 4455 Camp Bowie Blvd., Ste. 114, Fort Worth, TX 76107