The Boy Scouts of America, Texas Trails Council will honor Steve Ellis as the 2024 Distinguished Citizen.

The honor will be presented to Steve Ellis at the Scouts 2024 Distinguished Citizen Award Dinner that will be held at the Coggin Connection Center, 1817 Coggin Ave. Brownwood, Texas at 7 p.m. Tuesday, November 12, 2024.

Table sponsorships, honorariums, and individual ticket information are available by contacting Dennis Graham, Board Member of the Texas Trails council and Chairman for this year’s event. For reservations, contact Dennis at [email protected] or call him at 806-674-1708.

Steve is 72 years old. He was first elected in 1996 as the Judge of the 35th Judicial District of Texas (Brown and Mills Counties). He retired on December 31, 2020, and became a Senior Judge, subject to assignment as a visiting judge as needed by the Supreme Court of Texas and other courts in the state. Prior to taking the bench, he was an active trial attorney with a general law practice, and he also served as a mediator. Judge Ellis was elected 35th District Attorney in 1980 and served for eight years before voluntarily stepping down. He was an assistant district attorney from 1976 until 1980.

He received a B.A. from Baylor University, Waco, Texas in 1973. He earned his Juris Doctorate from Baylor University School of Law in 1976. Ellis is a member of the Judicial Section of the State Bar of Texas and has served on numerous other professional committees, boards, and organizations. He was selected by Texas CASA, Inc. as its “Lone Star Proud for Kids Judge of the Year” for the State of Texas in 2002. Steve served as an Adjunct Faculty Member, teaching political science at the Academy of Freedom at Howard Payne University 2006-2007. He also served as a member of the Board of Trustees at Howard Payne from 2011 to 2021.

Steve Ellis has been active in his community for years. In 2020, he was recognized with the Groner Pitts Lifetime Achievement Award by the Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce after previously been named Outstanding Man of the Year 2002 and Professional of the Year in 2013 by that organization. He is a member and past president of the Brownwood Kiwanis Club and is the Chartered Organization Representative with the two scout units the Kiwanis Club sponsors, Cub Scout Pack 4, and Scout Troop 22. He is a member of the Executive Board and past president of the Texas Trails Council, Boy Scouts of America. He is currently Chair of its Pecan Valley District. He served three different times as Cubmaster of Cub Scout Pack 14 and for several years as Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 14. He is a deacon in the First Baptist Church of Brownwood where he has taught a Sunday School class for over forty-five years. Steve is also a cattle rancher.

Steve and his wife Mary Jane have been married for over 14 years. His first wife Debby was an estate planning attorney who died of breast cancer in 2006. Steve and Debby have three grown children: Becca Whitacre, who is an estate planning lawyer in Waco, John Ellis, a civil litigation attorney in Austin; and Joe Ellis also a civil litigation attorney in San Antonio. Mary Jane has two grown children from a prior marriage: Justin Pittman of Brownwood and Lindsey Pittman of Weatherford. The Ellises are the proud grandparents of 6 grandchildren.