Margo Frasier is an American lawyer and former sheriff. She was sheriff of Travis County, Texas (which includes the city of Austin) from 1997 through 2004.
Frasier, a lawyer, [1] received a J.D. from the Florida State University College of Law. [2]
She joined the Travis County Sheriff's Office as a sheriff's deputy, [3] and eventually became the office's first female lieutenant and the first female captain. [4] She was subsequently elected to two four-year terms as sheriff of Travis County, [4] serving from 1997 through 2004. [3] The sheriff's office had some 1,200 employees at the time of Fraiser's tenure. [5] Fraiser, a Democrat, was the first woman and the first openly gay person in that post. [4] She was also the first gay or lesbian person elected sheriff in the United States. [6]
During her tenure, Fraiser modernized the sheriff's office through greater use of technology and dealt with overcrowding and code violations at the county jail. [4] During her tenure, the sheriff's office put cameras and computers in patrol cars for the first time. [7] After leaving the sheriff's office, Fraiser became a professor of criminal justice at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. [2] She later returned to Austin to become a consultant at a firm that advises law enforcement agencies. [8] Fraiser also testified as an expert witness in court cases. [3]
In January 2011, Fraiser became police monitor for the City of Austin. [1] She was the fourth person to hold this post. [8] As police monitor, Frasier had oversight over citizen complaints against the Austin Police Department. [1] She retired from the Office of Police Monitor in January 2017, [8] and later that year was appointed by U.S. District Judge Lance Africk to serve as the lead monitor overseeing the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office under the terms of a 2013 settlement of a case between the Orleans sheriff's offices and jail inmates over poor conditions at the Orleans Parish Prison. [9]
Fraiser has a domestic partner and a daughter. [4]
Margo Frasier is an American lawyer and former sheriff. She was sheriff of Travis County, Texas (which includes the city of Austin) from 1997 through 2004.
Frasier, a lawyer, [1] received a J.D. from the Florida State University College of Law. [2]
She joined the Travis County Sheriff's Office as a sheriff's deputy, [3] and eventually became the office's first female lieutenant and the first female captain. [4] She was subsequently elected to two four-year terms as sheriff of Travis County, [4] serving from 1997 through 2004. [3] The sheriff's office had some 1,200 employees at the time of Fraiser's tenure. [5] Fraiser, a Democrat, was the first woman and the first openly gay person in that post. [4] She was also the first gay or lesbian person elected sheriff in the United States. [6]
During her tenure, Fraiser modernized the sheriff's office through greater use of technology and dealt with overcrowding and code violations at the county jail. [4] During her tenure, the sheriff's office put cameras and computers in patrol cars for the first time. [7] After leaving the sheriff's office, Fraiser became a professor of criminal justice at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. [2] She later returned to Austin to become a consultant at a firm that advises law enforcement agencies. [8] Fraiser also testified as an expert witness in court cases. [3]
In January 2011, Fraiser became police monitor for the City of Austin. [1] She was the fourth person to hold this post. [8] As police monitor, Frasier had oversight over citizen complaints against the Austin Police Department. [1] She retired from the Office of Police Monitor in January 2017, [8] and later that year was appointed by U.S. District Judge Lance Africk to serve as the lead monitor overseeing the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office under the terms of a 2013 settlement of a case between the Orleans sheriff's offices and jail inmates over poor conditions at the Orleans Parish Prison. [9]
Fraiser has a domestic partner and a daughter. [4]