CCJ Directory

State Representative Jerry A. Madden was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa on February 20, 1943. He graduated high school from the American High School in Mannheim, Germany where his family was stationed. Madden attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, class of 1965 where he graduated with a B.S. in Engineering. While at West Point he was on the Race Walking team. He won third place in the 1 Mile Walk at the National AAU meet in Madison Square Gardens in 1964, his junior year. He also had won the New York to Coney Island Race Walk event in 1963. Upon his graduation from West Point Jerry was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant Field Artillery.

Upon graduation from West Point with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, he married Barbara Szumachowski June 20, 1965. Jerry spent six years in the Army, including one year in Vietnam and two years in Germany, before bringing his family to Richardson, Texas, in 1971.

Madden worked 11 years for Texas Instruments, 8 years for Teledyne Geotech, and in 2000 formed Jerry Madden Insurance to offer group health plan coverage options to small businesses out of his independent agency’s Plano offices. In July of 2008, he sold his company and retired from the insurance business. He obtained a Master of Science in Management and Administration Sciences from the University of Texas at Dallas in 1979.

As a nearly 50 year resident of Richardson Texas, Jerry has been involved in numerous veterans’ and community organizations, holding positions such as President of the Collin County School Board, and Chairman of the Collin County Hospital Board as well as serving on the Advisory Board of the Plano Chamber of Commerce. He was instrumental in launching the Collin County Caring for Children program, a joint venture between Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Texas and the private sector. Dedicated to the Republican philosophy, Jerry was elected Precinct Chairman in his local neighborhood in 1974, and Chairman of the Republican Party of Collin County in 1984.

First elected to the Texas Legislature in November of 1992 he served ten terms, Madden was Chairman of the House Committee on Corrections, which he chaired from 2005-2009 and 2011-2012, as well as a member of the Select Committee on Election Contest, the Redistricting Committee, and the Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee. Prior committee appointments have included Calendars, Public Education, House Select Committee on Public School Finance, State Affairs, Urban Affairs, Public Safety, Elections, State, Federal and International Relations, and Rules and Resolutions.

Different legislative initiatives for which he was commended ranged from the highly successful 2007 criminal justice system reforms which sought to divert individuals from prison through mental health and substance abuse treatment programs, provide more opportunities in prison for rehabilitation, and properly utilize probation and parole mechanisms to avoid greater costs if new prisons were built; from establishing a state virtual education system to supporting participation of military voters in elections; from advocating for victim’s rights to instituting judicial campaign fairness. He has been honored for his work in a variety of policy areas by organizations including the American Legion-Dept. of Texas, Texas Common Cause, Texas Association of Business, Texas Library Association, Texas Classroom Teachers Association, Texas Home School Coalition, American Family Association of Texas, Texas Public Policy Foundation, Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, the Texas Corrections Association and Texas Access to Just

In wake of the 2007 Legislative Session, Rep. Madden was designated by Texas Monthly as one of its 10 Best Legislators. While this honor is certainly notable, Rep. Madden was the first recipient of the 2007 Carmen Miller Michael Mental Health Advocate Prism Award, was recognized as a University of Texas at Dallas Distinguished Alumnus in March of 2009, was named to the Board of Directors of the Council of State Governments’ Justice Center in April of 2009, and served from July 2009 to July 2010 as Chairman of the Law and Criminal Justice Committee formed by the National Council of State Legislatures. In June of 2010, Rep. Madden was appointed to serve on the Texas State Council for Interstate Adult Offender Supervision, and in July of 2010 was named co-chair of the National Conference of State Legislatures’ Sentencing and Corrections Work Group.

On November 18, 2010, Rep. Madden was honored at a special ceremony in Washington, D.C., as a consequence of being named one of Governing magazine’s 2010 Public Officials of the Year, an award he shared with Sen. Whitmire and six other individuals from across the country. On August 5, 2011, the American Legislative Exchange Council honored Rep. Madden with their “Legislator of the Year” award at the organization’s 38th annual meeting in New Orleans, LA. He chaired ALEC’s Public Safety and Elections Task Force from January 2011 through April of 2012, and serves as well on the Texas Criminal Justice Integrity Unit which is charged with exploring ways to avoid wrongful convictions.

While at West Point he met the love of his life, Barbara and they were married for 51 years until her passing in 2017. They raised three children, Jerry, Stephanie and Kristina and were blessed with five grandchildren.

After completing his legislative career, in 2013 Jerry was named a Senior Fellow for Right on Crime at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. In 2016 Jerry was named to the National Board of the Prison Entrepreneurship Program. In 2017 Jerry was elected to serve on the Board of Directors for Unlocking Doors, and awarded Susan McHenry Golden Key Award for tireless work in the area of Criminal Justice Reform. He continues to serve in each of these capacities today.