William Kenton Tippen (6 September 1922 – 14 April 1994) was an American politician from Texas. Tippen was born on 6 September 1922 in

Brownwood, Texas Brownwood is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, Texas, United States. The population was 18,862 at th2020 census Brownwood is located in the Northern Texas Hill Country and is home to Howard Payne University that was founded in 1889. ...

. When he was 12, his family moved to Abilene, where he graduated from Abilene High School. He then earned a bachelor's degree from

Hardin–Simmons University Hardin–Simmons University (HSU) is a private Baptist university in Abilene, Texas. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas (Southern Baptist Convention). History Hardin–Simmons University was founded as Abilene Baptist ...

in 1943 and served in the

Counterintelligence Corps The Counter Intelligence Corps (Army CIC) was a World War II and early Cold War intelligence agency within the United States Army consisting of highly trained special agents. Its role was taken over by the U.S. Army Intelligence Corps in 1961 and ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, alongside the Fifth Army. Following his discharge from active duty in 1945, he enrolled at the

University of Texas Law School The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the law school of the University of Texas at Austin. Texas Law is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in the United States and is highly selective—registering the 8th lowest ac ...

and married Elsie Murphree in 1946. While pursuing his degree in law, which he completed in 1949, Tippen was elected to two full terms as a Democratic member of the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abou ...

from District 116. Tippen served as a state representative from 1947 to 1951. After stepping down at the end of his second consecutive term, he was elected to two terms each as Taylor County attorney and 104th District attorney. He founded a private legal practice in Abilene in 1956 and retired from his firm in 1988. Between 1959 and 1979, Tippen was a trustee of

. This stint included seven years as chairman of the board of trustees. In June 1972, Tippen won a special election for

District 24 A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

of the

Texas Senate The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per cons ...

, and replaced

David Ratliff David Wade Ratliff (20 April 1912 – 21 March 1995) was an American politician from Texas. A Democrat who lived in Stamford, Texas, he served his first term in the Texas House of Representatives as a legislator from District 115. In his second te ...

in office. Upon completing Ratliff's term in 1973, Tippen was appointed to a position on the

Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement or TCOLE, serves as the regulatory agency for all peace officers in Texas, which includes sheriffs and their deputies, constables and their deputies, police officers, marshals, troopers, Texas Rangers, ...

by governor

Dolph Briscoe Dolph Briscoe Jr. (April 23, 1923 – June 27, 2010) was an American rancher and businessman from Uvalde, Texas, who was the 41st governor of Texas between 1973 and 1979. He was a member of the Democratic Party. Because of his re-election foll ...

, which he held for six years. Tippen died on 14 April 1994.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tippen, Bill People from Brownwood, Texas Democratic Party Texas state senators People from Abilene, Texas United States Army personnel of World War II University of Texas School of Law alumni Military personnel from Texas 1922 births 1994 deaths County district attorneys in Texas 20th-century American legislators 20th-century American lawyers Democratic Party members of the Texas House of Representatives Hardin–Simmons University alumni 20th-century Texas politicians