Madden announces retirement, "pinnacle of achievement" after 19 years

Rep. Jerry Madden, R-Plano, announced on Monday he will not seek re-election to an 11th term in the Texas House and said he is "the happiest man in the world right now" thanks to the flexibility the upcoming retirement will have for him.

The veteran representative of the 67th District was first elected to the Texas Legislature in 1992, and during his tenure has gained a more-than-favorable reputation for his legislative work in the criminal justice field and within the public educational realm.

Having accomplished more than he imagined possible when he first took his oath of office, Madden said he now looks forward to spending time with his wife and plans to continue his work on the changes he helped make in the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems and being a spokesman for criminal justice programs throughout the country.

"These honors, and the national respect of my peers that lead to them, are the highlight of my career," said Madden, whose term will not officially end until January 2013. "As the national spokesman for Texas, I have had the honor of spreading our conservative, smart Texas response on criminal justice to the nation. We have become national experts on justice reinvestment and on Right on Crime. As chairman of the Criminal Justice Committee, my efforts saved the taxpayers of Texas over $240 million dollars in this session alone."

As chairman of the Corrections Committee and past chairman of the Criminal Justice Committee, some of Madden's accolades for which he said he is most proud are his sponsorship of the Judicial Campaign Finance Bill, the overhaul of Juvenile Justice in SB103 in 2007, the expansion of Drug Courts, the consolidation of the Juvenile Probation and Youth Commission, and the development of the Nurse Family Partnership. In 2011, Madden was named the American Legislation Exchange Conference [ALEC] Legislator of the year nationally for his work in the corrections system. The year before that, he was honored by Governing Magazine as Public Officials of the Year for his corrections legislation and was previously chosen one of the 10 Best Legislators in Texas in 2007.

"I was a House sponsor who helped develop the Texas Virtual Network, which is the statewide network that gets schools involved with online classes," Madden said. "It's equity at its highest level and gives students the opportunity to take it at any time they like to, there are no restraints of classroom size, they can get on the computer at three in the morning if they'd like, it's that easy."

Before his announcement, Madden faced two young candidates seeking to oust the 19-year veteran in the 2012 Republican primary. District candidates Jeffrey Leach and Jon Cole are attorneys in Collin County, the latter of whom competed against Madden four years ago. Madden won the election by less than 650 votes.

Leach and Cole issued statements on Monday responding to the news of Madden's retirement, both congratulating Madden on a successful tenure as a dedicated public servant.

"Today we honor a lifetime of community service of Jerry Madden. His commitment to the service, whether in the United States Army, the community of Collin County or as our state representative for nearly 20 years, is remarkable," Leach said. "I am sure that in retirement Rep. Madden will continue to fight the good fight with great drive and determination that has always guided him."

"Representative Madden has been a dedicated public servant for decades, and I appreciate his service to our state and party," Cole said. "Representative Madden has been a loyal Republican since being first elected to the state House at a time when Republicans were far tougher to come by in our state. I wish Representative Madden nothing but the best as he retires."

The 67th District is in central Plano, parts of Richardson, Allen and Dallas but could change by the March primary, as a Federal appeals court rejected redistricting maps last week that were approved this spring by a Republican-controlled state legislature, on the basis that they the state House and Senate districts, as well as U.S. House districts, were redrawn in an improper way. Madden, who serves on the Texas House Redistricting Committee, said he felt the maps are acceptable and said the impact of the Federal court's decision could be felt throughout the state, including Collin County. With potential candidates already planning their campaigns, Madden said those efforts could be hampered with the maps still caught up in Federal court.

"I don't know what's going to happen or if [candidates] will even know what their district will be [by the filing deadline]. I think [the Federal court] may have an idea by Thanksgiving, hopefully though."

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