James R. Pitts (January 1, 1947 – July 20, 2024) was an American politician and lawyer who served in the
Texas House of Representatives
The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. There are no Term limits in the United States, term limits. The ...
from 1993 to 2015. He was the chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee for four legislative sessions. He was a
Republican from
Waxahachie in
Ellis County, south of his native
Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
.
Early life and education
Pitts attended
Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...
where he received a
Bachelor of Business Administration
A Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is an undergraduate degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of four years and typically 120 credits of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of busine ...
, a
Master of Business Administration
A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...
, and a
Juris Doctor
A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...
. He practiced law for past thirty-four years in Waxahachie, with a specialty in general and
real estate law. He also owned the Ellis County Abstract and Title Company.
Community involvement
Pitts served as a director of Citizens National Bank, based in Waxahachie. He also served as a director of Waxahachie's Sims Library, and served as a past president of the Waxahachie
Chamber of Commerce
A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...
and past president and
treasurer
A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization.
Government
The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...
of the board of trustees of
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...
Children's Services. He also served on the Community Advisory Council for the
Scottish Rite Learning Center; was chosen as Waxahachie's "Outstanding Citizen of the Year" in 1999; served on the Board of Trustees at
ZACH Theatre
Zach Theater (the Zachary Scott Theatre Center) is a professional theatre company located in Austin, Texas, as well as its associated complex of theatre facilities. The company is the oldest continuously active theatre company in Texas, and one of ...
in Austin, TX for nearly twenty years; and was named one of Texas' "Ten Best Legislators" in 2005 by the magazine ''
Texas Monthly
''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. Founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, ''Texas Monthly'' chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the Natura ...
''.
Pitts served for fourteen years as a member of the board of trustees for the
Waxahachie Independent School District
The Waxahachie Independent School District is a public school district located in Waxahachie, Texas, a suburban community serving as the county seat for Ellis County, which adjoins Dallas County to the north. Waxahachie ISD is a district of ab ...
. He was serving as president of the school board when he was first elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1992.
Legislative career
Pitts was elected on November 3, 1992, as the state representative for District 10, which comprises
Hill
A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, and is usually applied to peaks which are above elevation compared to the relative landmass, though not as prominent as Mountain, mountains. Hills ...
and Ellis counties. The district was created from the 1991
redistricting
Redistricting in the United States is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries. For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each ten-year census.
The U.S. Constitution in Art ...
of the state.
During the 1993 session of the Texas Legislature, Pitts served on the House Committees on
Economic Development
In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...
and
Transportation
Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...
. He was appointed to the committees on
Criminal Jurisprudence
Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law is establ ...
and
Corrections
In criminal justice, particularly in North America, correction, corrections, and correctional, are umbrella terms describing a variety of functions typically carried out by government agencies, and involving the punishment, treatment, and s ...
for the 74th
Legislative Session
A legislative session is the period of time in which a legislature, in both parliamentary and presidential systems, is convened for purpose of lawmaking, usually being one of two or more smaller divisions of the entire time between two electi ...
in 1995. During the 75th Legislative Session, Pitts served as a member of the
Appropriations Committee and the State, Federal and
International Relations
International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...
Committee.
Introduction of juvenile death penalty legislation
In April 1998, Pitts introduced legislation which would have permitted
capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...
for offenders as young as eleven years old, though he stated that the legislation was not crafted with the intent of such sentences becoming commonplace. The legislation did not pass, and was rejected by then-
Governor
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
, who stated that he favored the then-present minimum age of seventeen (the minimum age, per the
U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...
's ruling in ''
Stanford v. Kentucky'' (1988) was then sixteen years of age, though ''
Roper v. Simmons'' (2005) raised this to eighteen).
1999–2009
In 1999, during the 76th Legislative Session, Pitts was appointed to serve on the House Committees for Appropriations,
Financial Institutions
A financial institution, sometimes called a banking institution, is a business entity that provides service as an intermediary for different types of financial monetary transactions. Broadly speaking, there are three major types of financial ins ...
, and
Redistricting
Redistricting in the United States is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries. For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each ten-year census.
The U.S. Constitution in Art ...
; he retained these positions in the 77th Session. Pitts also chaired the Appropriations subcommittees for Regulatory Agencies and Major Information Systems.
He also retained his posts as chairman of the Subcommittee on Regulatory Agencies and as a member of the Select Committee on Teacher
Health Insurance
Health insurance or medical insurance (also known as medical aid in South Africa) is a type of insurance that covers the whole or a part of the risk of a person incurring medical expenses. As with other types of insurance, risk is shared among ma ...
.
During 78th Legislative Session in 2003, Pitts served his third term on the House Appropriations Committee, and was appointed to the
Ways and Means
A ways and means committee is a government body that is charged with reviewing and making recommendations for government budgets. Because the raising of revenue is vital to carrying out governmental operations, such a committee is tasked with fi ...
Committee, and the Redistricting Committee. Pitts was also appointed to serve on the Select Committee on
Public School Finance and as chairman of the Subcommittee on High Schools.
Prior to the 79th Legislative Session in 2005, Pitts was chosen to serve as the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. He was subsequently reappointed chairman at the beginning of the 79th Legislative Session.
During the 81st Legislative Session in 2009, Pitts served as the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. He also served on the Redistricting Committee, Federal Economic Stabilization Funding Committee, and the Fiscal Stability Committee.
Target: Tom Craddick
In December 2006, just before the commencement of the 80th legislative session, Pitts announced his candidacy for the position of
Speaker, held since 2003 by fellow Republican
Tom Craddick of
Midland. Pitts and colleagues
Brian McCall and
Senfronia Thompson actively challenged Craddick. In early January 2007, the two Republicans, Pitts and McCall, joined forces with the agreement that Pitts would be put forth as a consensus candidate for Speaker. However, a "test vote" based on a
secret ballot
The secret ballot, also known as the Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election or a referendum is anonymous. This forestalls attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vote ...
failed to show that Pitts could unseat Craddick.
Pitts and fellow Republicans
Charlie Geren, Brian McCall, and
Robert Talton continued to fight what they called "arm twisting and intimidation," and late in the legislative session, other Republicans such as chairmen
Byron Cook of
Corsicana,
Jim Keffer of
Eastland, and Fred Hill, joined the fight to oust Craddick. The attempts to remove the Speaker were then unsuccessful because Craddick asserted that he held the absolute power as Speaker to acknowledge or deny motions, making it implausible, if not impossible, for one of his opponents to be recognized in order to begin the proper parliamentary proceedings necessary to remove the Speaker.
Early in 2009, Pitts joined a small group of Republicans, including Byron Cook, Jim Keffer, and
Burt Solomons of
North Carrollton, who voted with the Democrats to topple Speaker Craddick and replace him with Joe Straus.
2013 budget challenge
In 2013, Appropriations chairman Pitts and Speaker Straus faced the task of reconciling an expected $4.7 billion shortfall in the state budget. Since 2003, annual spending by Texas state government has been kept in the lower single digits and below the rates of
inflation
In economics, inflation is an increase in the average price of goods and services in terms of money. This increase is measured using a price index, typically a consumer price index (CPI). When the general price level rises, each unit of curre ...
and population growth. Pitts awaited a report from the retiring
Texas Comptroller Susan Combs
Susan Combs (born February 26, 1945) is an American politician, having served elected office in Texas and served as the Assistant Secretary of Policy, Management and Budget at the U.S. Department of the Interior as an appointed official under Pre ...
regarding the expected receipts for the 2013–2014 biennium.
Admissions controversy at University of Texas-Austin
Pitts became ensnared in an admissions "clout" scandal at the University of Texas at Austin in 2013. Publicly available documents revealed that Pitts and two other members of the House sent more letters to the president of the University of Texas on behalf of applicants than anyone else whose correspondence was included in a recent inquiry into admissions favoritism.
The University of Texas System retained Kroll, Inc. to investigate admissions practices at the University of Texas-Austin. The investigation was expanded in December 2014 by former UT System Chancellor
Francisco G. Cigarroa.
Personal life
Pitts was born in Dallas, Texas on January 1, 1947.
[Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997.] He was the twin son (with John R. Pitts) of Roy Eugene Pitts and Agnes Theresa Maloney,
who currently live in
Henderson County. His sister, Rosemary Burns, lives in Henderson County where Pitts resided before he died.
In 1971, he married the former Frances Evelyn Eastham; she died in an automobile accident in June 2004. They had three children: daughters Duffy and Ashley and son Ryan. All three of his children are graduates of Southern Methodist University. Duffy is married to Dr. Scott Bloemendal and the mother of three children (Jackson, Will and Owen). Ashley is the Director of Development for the
Cox School of Business
The Edwin L. Cox School of Business is an American business school that is part of Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas. The SMU Cox School of Business is headquartered in four buildings on SMU's 210-acre main campus five miles ...
at Southern Methodist University and is the mother of one child (Margaret). Ryan is a graduate of the
University of Texas School of Law
The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the Law school in the United States, law school of the University of Texas at Austin, a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas. According to Texas Law’s American Bar ...
and is currently the chief executive officer at Ellis County Title Company. Ryan is married to Faith Anne Pustmueller and they have two children (Evelyn and Reagan).
Retirement and death
Pitts did not seek reelection to the state House in 2014. He was succeeded in the position by another Waxahachie Republican,
John Wray, who won a runoff contest on May 27 with T. J. Fabby, 6,031 votes (52.9 percent) to 5,363 (47.1 percent). He died in Dallas on July 20, 2024, at the age of 77.
Republican former state Rep. Jim Pitts has died at 77
/ref>
References
External links
Jim Pitts Campaign Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitts, Jim
1947 births
2024 deaths
Politicians from Dallas
People from Waxahachie, Texas
Southern Methodist University alumni
Republican Party members of the Texas House of Representatives
Texas lawyers
School board members in Texas
American Presbyterians
21st-century members of the Texas Legislature