PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Criminal District Attorney, Collin County, Texas, January 1, 2003 - present

• Member, Collin County Bail Bond Board
• Member, Collin County Criminal Justice Council
• Member, Collin County Emergency Management

Private Practice of Law, July 1, 2001 - November 15, 2002

Justice, 5th District Court of Appeals of Texas at Dallas, November 24, 1997 - June 30, 2001

• First judge from Collin County ever elected to the Court of Appeals in Dallas

Judge, 199th Judicial District Court, Collin County, Texas, January 1, 1981 - November 24, 1997

• Local Administrative Judge for the District Courts, 1981 - 1997
• Chairman, Board of District Judges, 1981 - 1997
• Chairman, Collin County Purchasing Board, 1981 - 1997
• Chairman, Collin County Juvenile Board, 1981 - 1997
  Collin County named its new juvenile detention center the "John R. Roach Juvenile Detention Center" in November 1998

Private Practice of law

• Solo practitioner in general practice, 1979 and 1980

Assistant District Attorney

• Section Chief, Specialized Crime Division; Dallas County, Texas, 1974-1978
  Prosecuted "white collar" crime cases

Admitted to the Bar, April, 1974

• Admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States; the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit; the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas; and all the courts of the State of Texas

 

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Author

• Roach's Texas Rules of Civil Evidence Annotated
  West Group/Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Company, 1997
• Roach's Texas Rules of Evidence Annotated
  Thomson - West, 1998 - 2008 (co-authored with Presiding Judge Michael J. McCormick, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (ret.))

Lecturer

• Frequent lecturer and speaker to business, civic, political and legal organizations

Law and the Community

• Court Appointed Special Advocate Program
  Authorized and supported the creation of the CASA program in Collin County; Recipient, CASA Founder's Award, 2003
• Guardian Ad Litem Child Support Collection Program
  Created this program while a district judge; child support collections rose from 25% to more than 80%; privately operated and self-supporting; no cost to the taxpayer

 

PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION AND TRAINING

Board certified

• Civil Trial Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization, 1987 - 2007
• Family Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization, 1984 - 1999
• Criminal Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization, 1984 - present

John R. Roach Juvenile Detention Center

• Named and dedicated by Collin County in November, 1998

 

CURRENT PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

Member, Texas District and County Attorneys Association

 

EDUCATION

University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Juris Doctor, 1974

Auburn University at Montgomery, Montgomery, Alabama, B.A. History, 1971

 

MILITARY SERVICE

United States Air Force

• 1965 - 1968; rank of sergeant; Vietnam veteran; honorably discharged

 

FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Spanish

• Proficient in reading Spanish; adequate in conversational Spanish; goal is fluency

 

CURRENT COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

• Director, Collin County Christian Prayer Breakfast, Inc.; President, 2003, 2004
• Member, Plano Sunrise Rotary Club, Plano, Tx.
• Member, Board of Directors, Collin County Children's Advocacy Center, Inc.
• Member, Board of Directors, Samaritan Inn, McKinney, Tx.

 

PERSONAL

Family

• Married to Mary McCall Roach for more than 43 years; four grown children; eight grandchildren

Interests and Hobbies

• Scuba diving (formerly rated as an instructor and master diver trainer by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors); snow skiing; golf; travel; team steer roping; firearm sports; learning Spanish