Meet Sheila
Sheila is sometimes described as soft-spoken, but talk to her for a few minutes about health care, public education or political corruption and you will see the fires start to burn and the voice comes out.
“I’m a strong believer in human rights and I will always place the rights of the people above the rights of the government. I believe in our public schools and teachers, and I will work to give every child access to a quality education, and every teacher the tools he or she needs in delivering that education.” But overall, she says “I recognize the only way to achieve any of our goals is through an honest, open government.”
Sheila began serving her community as freshman in college, and has been active in people’s work ever since. As a law school intern, she worked in the Mayor’s Office reviewing legislation, and in the District Attorney’s office prosecuting “white collar” deceptive trade practices criminals. Now seeking to serve Texas as a State Representative who supports our public schools, she is an advocate for citizen’s rights to quality health care and the fight for a fair tax plan for Texas.
Her family, originally from Foard County, Texas, moved back to their Texas roots when Sheila was at an early age. She attended Kilgore Junior College, home of the Rangerettes, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Texas at Tyler. Being honored with membership in the Phi Delta Phi international Legal Fraternity, she earned a J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center in 1998, and was admitted to the State Bar that same year.
Helping to prepare her for public service; during her legal education, Sheila worked with the Houston Mayor’s Anti-Gang Office, and later the Harris County District Attorney’s Consumer Fraud Division.
During her professional career, she has had the responsibility of representing injured workers in their suits against the corporations that exposed them to toxic substances; managing teams of legal professionals, as well as successfully practicing family law and criminal defense cases. In other professional experience, Sheila has practiced in State and Local Taxation with a "Big Five" accounting firm. After careful consideration, she decided in 2005 to partner with Mr. Michael Hornsby to found a law firm dedicated to serving the needs of the community right here in Tarrant County. Even with all of that, she still finds time to serve as Secretary on the board of directors of a local engineering & manufacturing company.
Sheila’s public service interests include a range of activities; she is an activist for civil rights and civil liberties, as well as a volunteer public speaker for local government students. And, she is currently a professor teaching Constitutional Law and Criminal Procedure for a Fort Worth paralegal college. Sheila enjoys volunteering in legal assistance programs for family courts of law, including work through the North Texas Legal Aid Clinic, and in community-oriented programs benefitting women’s issues.