Thresa "Terry" Meza (born August 1, 1949) is an American politician and attorney serving as a 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 abo ...

from the 105th district.

Early life and education

Born in

Oak Cliff Oak Cliff is a neighborhood of Dallas, Texas, that was formerly a separate town in Dallas County; Dallas annexed Oak Cliff in 1901. It has since retained a distinct neighborhood identity as one of Dallas' older established neighborhoods. Oak C ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, she was raised in Irving, Texas and attended Irving High School. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the

University of Texas at Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas. The university was founded in 1895 and was in the Texas A&M University System for several decades until joining the University of ...

and a Juris Doctor from the Texas Wesleyan University School of Law (now Texas A&M University School of Law).

Career

Prior to serving in the

, Meza worked as a teacher at

South Grand Prairie High School South Grand Prairie High School (SGPHS) is a public high school in the city of Grand Prairie, Texas, United States. It is part of the 36-campus Grand Prairie Independent School District. History South Grand Prairie High School originally opened ...

and operated an independent legal practice. Meza was elected to the House in 2018, defeating incumbent Republican Rodney Anderson. She is a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. In 2020, Meza introduced HB196, a bill to modify Texas' "

Castle Doctrine A castle doctrine, also known as a castle law or a defense of habitation law, is a legal doctrine that designates a person's abode or any legally occupied place (for example, a vehicle or home) as a place in which that person has protections and ...

" to require homeowners to retreat into their own homes if it can safely be done rather than using deadly force against those who are stealing property from outside their home.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meza, Terry Living people 1949 births People from Dallas People from Irving, Texas 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Women state legislators in Texas Democratic Party members of the Texas House of Representatives People from Oak Cliff, Texas