TFRW Woman of Distinction – March 2021
Our March TFRW Woman of Distinction is Judge Erleigh Norville Wiley, Kaufman County Criminal District Attorney.
TFRW is pleased to have the honor of recognizing Judge Erleigh Norville Wiley as our Woman of Distinction for March 2021.
Erleigh Norville Wiley was born and raised in Kaufman County. She is a graduate of Texas Tech University, College of Business Administration, where she received a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree in Finance. She attended law school at the University of Texas in Austin receiving her Doctorate of Jurisprudence.
In 1990, Judge Wiley joined the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office. Her goal was to prosecute the criminals and protect innocent children and victims who have no voice. She was promoted to supervising attorney-training other new attorneys and managing 14 different courts.
Judge Wiley successfully ran for Judge of Kaufman County Court at Law, winning a hard-fought contested race. Judge Wiley’s judicial temperament, with her sense of integrity and fairness, allowed for many achievements including trying complex civil matters alongside criminal and family cases due to the unique jurisdiction that the court has in Kaufman County. Furthermore, she created the first Alternative Treatment Court Diversion Program in her county for defendants who suffer from alcohol and drug addiction.
Governor Rick Perry appointed Judge Wiley to fill the unexpired term of the office of the Criminal District Attorney of Kaufman County. She subsequently won election in 2014 and has now been the Kaufman County Criminal District Attorney for almost five years. She is the first Black woman to serve as a District Attorney in the state of Texas.
Judge Wiley takes an active role in her community by volunteering. Some of her Board work includes Chairman of the Kaufman County Juvenile Board, Trustee of Texas Health Resources, Kaufman County Children’s Advocacy Center and Kaufman County Children’s Shelter Board member. She is an active member of TFRW and Kaufman County Republican Women, having served as their President.
Judge Wiley has been lauded by various organizations for her work in the legal community as a Judge and as the Criminal District Attorney in Kaufman County. Some of the most notable are: State Bar of Texas Outstanding Leadership-Profiles of Courage Award in 2013; Texas District and County Attorney’s Association’s Lone Star Prosecutor Award; and the Dallas Black Police Officer’s Association’s Paved the Way Award in 2015. She is also a recent author and has published a memoir about the tragic events in 2013 in her new book, A Target on My Back.
Judge Wiley is most proud of her family. Raised with four brothers, she learned early on that you had to be tough. Her father is an active nonagenarian, who still works his own cattle on the family farm. Her husband has a private federal practice after retiring from government service where he amassed 22 years with the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office and the Justice Department as an Assistant United States Attorney. They have two sons, Brad and Jacob—one, a recent graduate from Morehouse College and one, attending a local community college and who is a musician.
