TFRW Woman of Distinction – November 2020
TFRW is pleased to present Rockwall County District Attorney Kenda Culpepper as our November Woman of Distinction.
After graduation from Texas A&M University in 1989 and SMU Law School in 1992, Kenda Culpepper joined the Dallas County District Attorney’s office where she prosecuted both misdemeanor and felony trials for three years. After leaving the DA’s office, she began the private practice of criminal law and became board certified in criminal law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in 1999. She maintained her practice both in Dallas and Rockwall counties.
In November, 2008, Kenda was honored to be elected as Rockwall County Criminal District Attorney, becoming the first woman to take office as District Attorney in the history of north Texas. She has been re-elected to subsequent four-year terms in 2010, 2014, and 2018. She supervises thirty-nine personnel, including 19 prosecutors, and her office handles almost all of the criminal prosecutions in Rockwall County.
During her illustrious legal career, Ms. Culpepper has received numerous awards and honors for her outstanding contributions to the legal profession, including the “Certificate of Merit” and “Standing Ovation Award.” She was selected to be a member of the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers Leadership Class, and served as one of the founders of “The Freedom Run” supporting the American Red Cross and police officers, now continuing into its twentieth year. She has been named by Texas Monthly as a “Texas Super Lawyer,” by D Magazine as one of the “Best Lawyers in Dallas,” and by Forbes SkyRadio as one of “America’s Most Influential Women.”
Kenda has enjoyed being actively involved in Republican politics since college. In 2004, she founded the Rockwall County Young Republicans. After serving as their president for two years she went on to be elected secretary of the Texas Young Republican Federation and was later elected as the state chair of TYRF.
Kenda has served on the Board of the Rockwall County Republican Party and the Rockwall County Republican Women’s Club. She has attended as a delegate to almost every state convention of the Republican Party of Texas since 2004, serving as 4th Congressional District caucus parliamentarian and Senate District 2 caucus secretary at numerous conventions. She additionally has served the Rockwall County GOP County Convention as either rules chair or parliamentarian since 2006. Notably, the Rockwall County GOP awarded her the “Sparks Award” in 2008 for service to the Republican Party and the 2019 Rockwall County GOP “Chairman’s Award.” In 2013, the Rockwall County Women named her their “Woman of Influence.”
Locally, Kenda has served on the Board of Directors for the Rockwall ISD Education Foundation, the Rockwall County Bar Association, the Rockwall Noon Rotary Club, the Rockwall Women’s League, the Rockwall MusicFest, the Reinhardt and Utley PTAs, and is a life founding fellow and former trustee of the DAYL Foundation. She is proud to have served as a mentor for a number of Rockwall ISD elementary students, and is a member of the local Chambers of Commerce, the Rockwall County Historical Foundation, the Rockwall Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Rockwall County Friends of the Library.
She and her husband, Rockwall Mayor Jim Pruitt, and their daughter, Kaylen, are members of the First United Methodist Church of Rockwall.
