Looking back on a life of service

“I wouldn’t do anything differently,” outgoing Jefferson County Criminal District Attorney Robert “Bob” Wortham said of his decision to live a life of public service. He is, however, looking forward to spending time with family and friends as 2022 closes with his retirement from nearly 50 years of public service.

Friends, colleagues and well-wishers will join Wortham in celebrating decades of setting legal standards in courtrooms near and far, fighting for the underdog and fervently championing for justice at an event set for Thursday, Dec. 15, at the Jefferson County Courthouse.

Starting strong

As a teen driven to succeed despite modest means, Wortham manned a paintbrush as an apprentice to earn money to pay for his college education post graduation from Beaumont High School. Once he collected his bachelor’s from Lamar University in 1971, he then shipped out on the Mobile Eclipse tanker to earn the money to attend Baylor University Law School. The first chance he got, Wortham took the opportunity to return home and serve the community he loved.

Wortham was only in his 20s when he first took a position at the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office. The young prosecutor was so fresh, he hadn’t even yet taken the bar exam – something unheard of now that all attorneys must pass the bar before practicing law.

“I remember it as vividly as if it had happened yesterday,” Wortham reminisced on the eve of his retirement celebration from the same office now 40-plus years later.

Wortham entered the office run by Steve Rienstra the day before his boss queried: “Who are you?” Then, the young attorney was handed his first case. The trial was to start immediately.

“I won eight cases before I ever got my law license,” Wortham laughed. On a roll, Wortham did what star lawyers do – enter private practice. Now with nearly 50 years of practicing law to his credit, Wortham remembers fondly his days at the Waldman & Smallwood Law Firm where he became partner in 1977.

Still, as would be a recurring theme throughout his life, the calling of public service was too great to ignore. In 1980, Wortham was appointed by then Governor Bill Clements as the State District Judge of the 60th District Court in Jefferson County. Additionally, he served as Visiting Presiding Judge in the 58th District Court, 317th District Court, and 279th District Court in Jefferson County, as well as presiding over courts in Harris County, Smith County, Brazos County and Hidalgo County.

Judges at the time had to be practicing attorneys for five years before they could assume a bench. Wortham, when he took over the 60th District Court, had been a lawyer for five years and five months.

In 1981, another career move landed Wortham in the role of U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas, a position he would hold for the next 12 years while hiring many of the prominent attorneys now practicing law on behalf of the public, including former Federal Magistrate and incoming Jefferson County Criminal District Attorney Keith Giblin, current Federal Magistrate Stuart Platt, and Criminal District Court Judge John Stevens.

“They’ve all made me very proud,” Wortham shared.

When Wortham took over as top prosecutor for the Eastern District of Texas, the office was in turmoil. A $100 million judgment against a Texas drug kingpin and the “Cowboy Mafia” was just the start of a portfolio of big victories attributed to the Eastern District of Texas under Wortham’s tenure. Worham’s crew followed with hit after hit against federal criminals, and enacted measures to create gun-free school zones.

“We took one of the weakest offices in the United States, and we made it one of the strongest offices in the country,” Wortham prides.

In addition to tackling gun laws to keep kids safe, Wortham also prided in the U.S. Attorney’s Office enacting pretrial diversion and deferred adjudication sentencing under his leadership, efforts to humanize the justice system.

“It put some sanity into criminal law,” Wortham explained. “It should not derail a person for life to make one mistake. Everybody is entitled to a second chance.

“You have to have vision and see what you can do to make the world a better place.”

Those who worked with Wortham and his band of eloquent esquires during the heydays recall the work with similar regard.

“Bob is a force of nature,” Tom Kiehnhoff, a former Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Texas during Wortham’s tenure said of his former boss. “He set high goals for himself and pursues them. He’s been a judge, a prosecutor and a lawyer. It’s hard to do all those things right – and he’s succeeded in every one of them.

“Service is what motivates Bob. He’s happiest when he’s helping the public.”

A change in Washington meant change for Wortham’s position at the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Never straying far from home, Wortham became partner at Reaud, Morgan & Quinn LLP in Beaumont, where he championed for Southeast Texans for more than a decade.

“We were very productive,” Wortham recalls. “I’ve had nothing but wonderful jobs in my life.”

During his time at the law firm, Wortham continued to concentrate on public service. While a private attorney in 1997, Wortham was called before the Senate to report on findings related to the federal government’s role in keeping children safe from gun violence on school campuses. Part of a panel of dignitaries that also included the National Legislative Chair for the Fraternal Order of Police in Washington, DC, Wortham appeared before the Senate to “stand up for the millions of school-age children… that would love to have a safe haven free from violence and intimidation,” Wortham explained before the federal leaders.

“It is a sad comment on our society when the most dangerous hours a student may spend are those hours they spend at school,” Wortham iterated. “If this is not a national issue, there are no national issues. If this is not a case where the federal government needs to come in and add its might, add its power, then there are no issues where the federal government needs to become involved.”

Expanding on the impetus of the “Gun-Free/Drug-Free” school zones that are now commonplace in America – started by Wortham in Beaumont while he was in the U.S. Attorney’s office – the lawyer detailed how Beaumont area campuses benefitted from the measure that he argued should be the norm. The year prior to enacting the federal Gun-Free School Zone statute, Beaumont ISD reported 17 incidents of guns on campuses, including at four middle schools.

Civilian life couldn’t hold Wortham forever, though.

“I had prospered well at Reaud, Morgan & Quinn and I decided it was time to go back to public service,” Wortham said.

Full circle

In 2007, Wortham was elected District Judge for the 58th District Court, where he would serve until 2014, when his expertise was again needed in the Jefferson County Criminal District Attorney’s Office.

Returning to his roots in the District Attorney’s Office, Wortham again answered the call to tackle criminal prosecution. Stepping down from the judicial bench to put boots on the ground in the community, Wortham announced he would seek election as Jefferson County District Attorney in 2014. No opposition mounted.

Wortham’s career is distinguished by awards and recognitions including Outstanding Young Lawyer in Jefferson County, the St. Thomas Aquinas Stewardship Award, St. Thomas More Public Service Award, Press Club of Southeast Texas’ inaugural Newsmaker of the Year Award, ATF’s Arson Prosecutor of the Year Award, the Department of Justice Award for Outstanding Service, Department of Labor Award for Outstanding Prosecution, and Chief Postal Inspector’s Special Award for Excellence. Wortham was named a Southeast Texas Legend by the Beaumont Foundation of America in 2007, is a member of LU’s Mirabeau Society, President’s Circle, and Friends of the Arts, and was named a 2019 LU Distinguished Alumnus.

Wortham has officiated high school and college football for 33 years, served as a member of the St. Jude’s Catholic Church and its Parish Council, board member of the Fireman’s Retirement Board, director of Court Appointed Special Advocates of Southeast Texas, and director of the Jefferson County 100 Club.

During his most recent years in the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office, Wortham has overseen the prosecution of capital murder trials, a “no probation offer” for egregious offenders policy, and his office sought and obtained more than a $1 million judgment in favor of the Beaumont Independent School District for criminal fraud perpetrated against the district taxpayers by a former electrical contractor.

As Wortham packs up his personal possessions from the DA’s office, a successor is hanging photos and filling bookcases. Incoming Jefferson County DA, Keith Giblin, remembers being a young gun lucky that Wortham gave him his first job at the U.S. Attorney’s Office long ago.

“For whatever reason,” Giblin said, “he gave me my first job 31 years ago.”

“He always gives me a job when I’m out of work,” Giblin half-joked. Before his current gig at the county district attorney’s office, Giblin had risen to the ranks of Magistrate at the federal office where Wortham first put the young attorney on the payroll.

“This man is a true icon,” Giblin summed up.

As the mentor now enters a season of retirement from public office, Wortham is excited that Giblin will be there to take up the reins of justice for the community they both call home.

“I can’t think of a better person to fill the role,” Wortham expressed. “I couldn’t have picked anyone better.”

Although Dec. 15 will mark celebration of a fond farewell to dog days at the office, it’s not a goodbye to the community Wortham has decades of vested interest in, he reminds those still punching the time clock.

“I’ve always enjoyed doing what I can for my community,” Wortham said. “Beaumont is, and always will be, my home.”