Erleigh N. Wiley
Kaufman County District Attorney's Office
Erleigh Norville Wiley was born and raised in Kaufman County. She is a graduate of Texas Tech University, Rawls College of Business; where she received a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree with a degree in Finance. She attended law school at Texas Law 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 fourteen 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 which included trying complex civil matters, alongside criminal and family cases due to the unique jurisdiction that the court has in Kaufman County. Further, she created the first Alternative Treatment Court Diversion program in her county, for defendants that suffer from alcohol and drug addiction.
Governor Rick Perry appointed Judge Erleigh Norville 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.
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, Kaufman County Children’s Advocacy Center and Kaufman County Children’s Shelter Board member.
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 were in 2013, from the State Bar of Texas, Outstanding Leadership-Profiles of Courage Award, and Texas District & County Attorney’s Association, Lone Star Prosecutor Award; as well as the Dallas Black Police Officer’s Association with the 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 is a partner with Lackey Hershman L.L.C., heading their White Collar Crime Division. He is recently retired 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.