Patricia R. "Pat" Lykos is an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

who served as

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

of Harris County,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

from 2009 to 2012.

Education

Lykos graduated from the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

in 1967 with a Bachelor of Science degree in political science. Lykos earned her Doctor of Jurisprudence in 1971 from

South Texas College of Law South Texas College of Law Houston (STCL or South Texas) is a private law school in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1923, it is accredited by the American Bar Association. South Texas College of Law Houston is the oldest law school in the city of ...

. She worked her way through college and law school while employed full-time as a

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

police officer.

Career

As a lawyer, she practiced in state, county, district and appellate courts and in federal court, litigating civil, criminal and family law matters. In 1980, the Harris County Commissioners' Court appointed her to the newly created bench of County Criminal Court No. 10, to which she won election that year. In 1981, Republican

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Bill Clements appointed her as judge of the 180th State Criminal District Court. Lykos served as a senior district judge, a special assignments judge, and as director of special projects for County Judge

Robert Eckels The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, and director of judicial and legal issues for County Judge

Ed Emmett Ed, ed or ED may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ed'' (film), a 1996 film starring Matt LeBlanc * Ed (''Fullmetal Alchemist'') or Edward Elric, a character in ''Fullmetal Alchemist'' media * ''Ed'' (TV series), a TV series that ran fro ...

. Lykos was the former chief judge of the Harris County criminal district courts, served three terms as President of the Retired, Senior and Former Judges of Texas, and taught in programs for the Texas Center for the Judiciary, the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...

, and the

State Bar of Texas The State Bar of Texas (the Texas Bar) is an agency of the judiciary under the administrative control of the Texas Supreme Court. It is responsible for assisting the Texas Supreme Court in overseeing all attorneys licensed to practice law in Te ...

. She is a Fellow of the

American Bar Foundation The American Bar Foundation (ABF) is an independent, nonprofit national research institute established in 1952 and located in Chicago. Its mission is to expand knowledge and advance justice by supporting innovative, interdisciplinary and rigorous ...

and the Houston Bar Foundation, of which she is a founding member. She has been an adjunct professor at

, and taught at the National Judicial College on the campus of

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded on October 12, ...

. Lykos defeated Democrat Brad Bradford (former Houston police chief) in the general election on November 4, 2008. In the April 8, 2008, Republican primary runoff, she defeated prosecutor Kelly Sieglar 52.6% to 47.3%. The Harris County District Attorney position became open after the former DA Chuck Rosenthal resigned in response to scandal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lykos, Pat Living people 1942 births County district attorneys in Texas Texas Republicans People from Houston Texas lawyers University of Houston alumni South Texas College of Law alumni Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Eastern Orthodox Christians 21st-century Eastern Orthodox Christians