|
B.J. Houston currently serves as the Director of the Criminal
Justice Program at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. She is responsible
for directing the program as well as teaching legal courses such as Criminal
Law, Criminal Procedure, Criminology, and Ethics. B.J. has been with Harding
since August 2001. In addition to her duties at Harding, B.J. continues to serve
as a legal instructor / private consultant for law enforcement agencies and
corporations across the country.
Prior to accepting the position at Harding, B.J. was with the Criminal Justice
Institute (CJI) in Little Rock, Arkansas, where she served as a Law Enforcement
Legal & Management Specialist from November 1997 to August 2001. She was
assigned to the Law Enforcement Management Center (LEMC) at CJI where, in
addition to her responsibilities with LEMC, she also utilized her legal and
educational experience with the National Center for Rural Law Enforcement (NCRLE)
and other areas of CJI. B.J. has maintained her association with CJI by
continuing to teach for CJI as a contract instructor.
Prior to joining CJI, B.J. served as a deputy prosecuting attorney for the
Twentieth Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney’s Office (Faulkner County) from
September 1995 through October 1997. She was responsible for preparation for and
presentation of trials and all other docket activities in the First and Third
Divisions of Circuit Court plus all general duties associated with the Office of
the Faulkner County Prosecuting Attorney.
During her tenure as a prosecutor, B.J. took 32 cases to trial (21 jury, 11
bench). Of those, she obtained 28 convictions, lost two and had two mistrials.
Her biggest win, timewise, was a life sentence consecutive to a prior life
sentence on a rape case. Her preferred areas of prosecution are: sex crimes,
murder/battery/assault cases, and drug prosecutions.
B.J. holds a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Arkansas at Little
Rock School of Law and is licensed to practice law in the state of Arkansas. She
is admitted to practice in Arkansas Circuit Court, U.S. District Court – Eastern
and Western District of Arkansas, and in the U.S. Court of Appeals – Eighth
Circuit. B.J. is a member of the Arkansas Bar Association, White County Bar
Association, Arkansas Association of Women Lawyers, Arkansas Association of
Chiefs of Police, and Arkansas Narcotics Officers Association. She is also a
member of the International Law Enforcement Educators & Trainers Association (ILEETA),
American Society for Law Enforcement Training (ASLET), the American Criminal
Justice Association – Alpha Theta Omega Phi Chapter. In addition, she is
qualified as a Certified Law Enforcement Instructor by the Arkansas Commission
on Law Enforcement Standards and Training.
She has also served as Special Prosecutor for the Fifteenth Judicial District
Circuit Court (Yell County), the Eighteenth Judicial District Municipal Court –
Criminal Division (Montgomery County) and, during her tenure at CJI, for the
Twentieth Judicial District Circuit Court (Faulkner County). Since joining
Harding University, B.J. has served as a Special Prosecutor for the Seventeenth
Judicial District (White County).
B.J. has a Master of Science Degree and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business
from Henderson State University. She has fifteen years of university teaching
and management experience with Ouachita Baptist University where she taught in
the Department of Economics and Finance. While at O.B.U., she served as chair of
the Department of Economics and Finance for three years as well as served as a
member and/or chair of numerous standing committees. She also served as an
adjunct faculty member in the Department of Economics and Finance at the
University of Arkansas at Little Rock from 1991 to 1998.
|