Lee Pierson, Dallas

Lee Pierson obtained his B.B.A. from Texas Christian University in 1991, and then graduated from Texas Tech University School of Law in 1994. Following the bar exam, he practiced as an Assistant City Attorney in both Arlington and Wichita Falls, and later branched out into private practice practicing primarily in the areas of criminal defense and family law, with some civil litigation. Mr. Pierson ran his own practice for 9 years before joining the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office in 2011 as a misdemeanor prosecutor. He has been the Chief of the Mental Health Division since 2015. He was appointed as a Commissioner on the Judicial Commission on Mental Health since 2020. Since becoming a commissioner, he has served on the Bench Book Committee, the Judicial Summit Planning Committee, worked on the Competency Toolkit and as a Co-Coordinator in a Sim Mapping for Denton County. Additionally, he has presented numerous times at the Judicial Summit on the topics of competency, deflection and Article 16.22 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. He was also asked by HHSC to work on the Competency Restoration Initiative to eliminate the waitlist for defendants waiting to go to a state hospital. He also serves on the Committee that developed and implemented the current process for Article 16.22 utilized by Dallas County. Lee was also asked to be on the planning committee and be a presenter for the State Bar of Texas’ mental health CLE on “Handling Your First of Next Specialty Court Case.” Finally, he was recently asked to be a Board Member on the North Texas Chapter of NAMI. He has a passion for diversionary measures and always looks to help solve underlying issues in an effort to reduce recidivism, costs to the County, and time spent in jail instead of treatment.