BREAKING: Former Travis County DA Ronnie Earle has died

Ronnie Earle, who served as Travis County district attorney for more than 30 years and was best known for prosecuting some of Texas’ top politicians and for championing the community justice system, died Sunday after a long illness. He was 78.

“He was a great guy,” said friend and former Austin Mayor Bruce Todd. “He always wanted to get things right and he had a good sense of what was right for community. That was what he always wanted to be the goal and objective.”

Todd said Earle’s health has been declining for some time.

Through the county's Public Integrity Unit, which he founded, Earle prosecuted some of the state's top politicians — including then-Texas Attorney General Jim Mattox, then-U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and then-U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay — with mixed success.

A jury acquitted Mattox and the case against Hutchison became a high-profile failure when charges were dismissed. DeLay was convicted of a money laundering charge, but that conviction was later overturned by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

But closest to Earle’s heart were his efforts at the forefront of community justice, a catchall name for programs that had caught on in prosecutors' offices nationwide that aim to attack crime by, in his words, "engaging the community in its own protection."

Earle established programs for crime prevention, alternative sentencing and the reintegration of former offenders into society. He also brought officials from a range of fields together.

Former law partner and friend Allen Hill said that in Earle’s office, there were no minorities. He believed in community and equality.

“No matter gender, color or anything else, you were treated fairly and respectfully by him,” Hill said.

Harvard University researchers visited Austin to document Earle’s methods, and he spoke at seminars across the country on his efforts at "reweaving the fabric of community."

At the time he stepped down as district attorney in 2008, veteran prosecutors under him said they were trained to look for ways to make Austin safer outside the courthouse and to bring the community, especially victims of crime, into the legal process.

"What am I proudest of as I leave office? I am proudest of making the community stronger," he told the American-Statesman in 2008.

In 2010, Earle lost a bid for the Democratic nomination in the Texas lieutenant governor race.

After growing up on a ranch northeast of Fort Worth, Earle came to Austin at the age of 19 and earned government and law degrees from the University of Texas.

Spending his career in public service, Earle served the Travis County community for four decades.

At 26, he became Texas’ youngest judge when he was appointed associate judge in Austin’s Municipal Court.

In 1973, he won his first of two terms in the Texas House of Representatives, and three years later, he ran for district attorney and defeated then-County Attorney Ned Granger.

He had never been a prosecutor but promised to bring to office “a virgin mind and a keen sense of justice.”

Earle was district attorney from 1977 to 2008, only drawing opponents twice — 1996 and 2000 — in his many reelection attempts.

District Attorney Margaret Moore, who worked for Earle during his first term until she was sworn in as Travis County attorney in 1981, said she was inspired by his vision of prosecution for Travis County.

“His leadership in a nontraditional view of prosecution that embraced innovations like community justice and victim advocacy won him national recognition,” she said. “He set the standard for Travis County prosecutors that endures today: Above all else, see that justice is done. My heart goes out to his wife Twila, and to his children. We in the DA family will be mourning his passing with them.”

His daughter Elisabeth A. Earle has served as the presiding judge of the County Court-at-Law No. 7 since 2003 and presides over the county’s DWI court.

In 2018, the eight-term district attorney was honored when the new DA’s office in downtown Austin was named the Ronald Earle Building.

A saying of Earle’s that is etched on a plaque inside the building says: “This building is where justice is to be done. That makes it a sacred place. Justice is the highest expression of the human spirit. It calls us to be better than we are. We may all hope that we honor that call.”

U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, who served with Earle in the state Legislature and spoke at the dedication ceremony for the building, said that as a municipal judge, legislator and district attorney, “Ronnie was committed to security and justice for all.”

“His success was measured not solely in terms of convictions obtained and years sentenced,” Doggett said, “but also through preventing crime, encouraging rehabilitation and seeing that justice is served.”