A former three-time Grand Prairie ISD School Board president and Brighter Tomorrow’s Women’s Shelter board member, who is the 2008 president of the Dallas County Crime Victims Council, has agreed to join the Lillian Smith Family Violence Foundation’s board of directors.
Norris Rideaux, who for the past four years has been the Dallas County Juvenile Probation Department Crime Victim Assistance Coordinator, has spent over 30 years assisting victims of crime, managing community-based programs to combat crime, plus supervising tens of thousands of offenders and parolees.
In his current position, he supervises a unit of victim managers who are responsible for contacting victims of juvenile offenders and ensuring that they, their guardians and family members are afforded their rights.
For his many efforts, he has received numerous awards from such community organizations as the Grand Prairie Bar Association, Classroom Teachers Association, Creative Vision Social Services, Muhammad Mosque and Chi Eta Phi nurses sorority.
In 2004, he received the NAACP Thurgood Marshall Award for Leadership and KRLD Radio Outstanding Community Service Award.
During his career, he has also hosted a TV show, taught college courses and campaigned last year as a candidate for Dallas Co. Tax Assessor.
Norris started his career in 1976 as a Texas prison guard assigned to the Ferguson unit.
Two years later, after earning his Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, he became a parole officer – eventually working his way up to become a Regional Supervisor with the Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice, Pardons and Parole Division. During his 15 years with that department, he was in charge of five district offices and either directly or indirectly supervised over 12,000 parolees.
In 1991, Norris shifted gears and became Manager of Community Programs for the Dallas County Juvenile Department. While in that position through 2004, he created and managed community-based programs for substance abuse services, Drug Court, deferred prosecution, community service restitution, mediation and victim advocacy.
Among his noteworthy achievements in that position, he successfully wrote and was awarded grants, resulting in:
- Two full-time community liaison officers being placed in three Dallas secondary schools, located in Dallas’ highest juvenile crime zip codes, to combat juvenile delinquency;
- A Youthful Drinking and Driving Prevention Program to help stem the increasing occurrence of alcohol/drug traffic fatalities among teens;
- A Juvenile Drug Court Diversion Program to reduce drug abuse and related delinquent behavior through education, intervention, treatment, and family involvement.
Norris currently serves as a deacon at his church in Grand Prairie.
We are thrilled that such an accomplished, yet humble, public servant would agree to join our organization!
