KATHERINE PARSLEY

Before being appointed to the bench, Judge Parsley managed a nationally recognized nonprofit organization. As the Executive Director of Crime Stoppers of Houston, she led the largest nonprofit of its kind in the country. Prior to her nonprofit leadership, she was a prosecutor at the Office of the District Attorney, Harris County. She was promoted to Chief Prosecutor and assigned to the Special Crimes Bureau. She prosecuted crimes ranging from offenses against property and persons to drug cases, and from white collar crime to capital murder. Hundreds of jury trials resulted in justice for thousands of victims. In one capital murder case, the jury assessed the death penalty.
On the bench, Judge Parsley managed a docket of more than 500 cases efficiently and effectively. She maintained a strict docket control order that promoted justice without delay. As a felony court judge, she presided over jury trials of defendants charged with capital murder, aggravated robbery, sexual assault, and crimes against children, among other offenses.

Judge Parsley also managed the Harris County STAR Program docket, commonly called “Drug Court.” A specialized docket for repeat drug offenders, the goal is rehabilitation through intensive probation and treatment, rather than repeated incarceration. Her drug court transformed lives; addicted participants became productive, law abiding citizens.

In the community, Judge Parsley is committed to service. She is a member of the Boards of Directors of Bridges to Life, the Association of Victims of Domestic Abuse (AVDA), and the Women’s Fund. She is a former member of the boards of the Friends of Fondren Library at Rice University and the Houston Club. She is the Immediate Past President of the Women’s City Club and Past President of the River Oaks Business Women’s Exchange Club and the Board of Governors of the Houston Club. She was honored with the 2008 Director’s Community Leadership Award from the FBI, and the 2009 Suzanne McDaniel Public Awareness Award from the bipartisan Congressional Victim’s Rights Caucus. She was named one of the Fifty Most Influential Women in Houston in 2011.

Judge Parsley has been a guest on hundreds of radio and television shows. She was a regular commentator on KHOU news on Saturday mornings as a legal expert. She wrote the weekly column “Living Safe” in the Examiner network of print publications. Prior to her appointment, she appeared on Sundays as a regular legal expert on radio station News 92FM, and appeared nationally on the Today show, Good Morning America, and Inside Edition. She participated in the Center for Houston’s Future Business/Civic Leader’s Forum, American Leadership Forum, Rice University Leadership Institute for Nonprofit Executives, and United Way Leader’s Circle.

Judge Parsley holds a Juris Doctor from Pepperdine University School of Law in California. She is licensed to practice law in both California and her native Texas.

Katherine is married to Dr. Brian Parsley, an orthopedic surgeon. They enjoy ten grandchildren, and counting! Her commitment to justice, leadership, community service, and the empowerment of all citizens has had a positive impact in communities around Houston, in Texas, and across the country.