After 22 years at the helm of the Texas District & County Attorneys Association, Executive Director Rob Kepple is retiring at the end of 2024. To celebrate Rob’s longtime service at TDCAA and his next adventure in retirement, we gathered our favorite memories of Rob over the past two decades.
In one of my rookie years at TDCAA, Rob took over as Executive Director. He and I were both following the World Cup at the time. During one particular game, he suggested we go to The Tavern down the road for a beer and watch the second half. I was fresh out of college, having a beer with my new boss on a late-afternoon work day. I thought that was so cool! It wasn’t the beer, it was the personal connection. Rob’s ability to make a connection with each member of his staff has kept us working hard and wanting to stay a part of the TDCAA family.
—Andrew Smith, TDCAA Financial Officer
It was September 2005 at Austin’s Convention Center Job Fair for evacuees from Hurricane Katrina. I was with three or four ladies waiting to interview for a temporary, part-time receptionist position at TDCAA. A tall, slender, very dapper man walked into the makeshift cubicle; he was looking for someone to cover phones while the staff was out of town for its Annual Conference. He stood in front of us with a warm, inviting smile, then said, “Hi, my name is Robert Kepple. Let’s get started.” He interviewed me last. I gave him my resume and apologized for not being appropriately dressed for the interview (I had on black trousers and a white buttondown blouse from Walmart), but I had nothing else. He then said, “When you meet everyone in the office tomorrow morning at 8, no one is going to care, and you will be just fine.” It was the most heartfelt, sincere, and quickest interview I have ever had. I’ve been at TDCAA ever since.
—Dayatra Rogers, TDCAA Database Manager & Registrar
My favorite memory of Rob is when we hosted a summer board meeting at Vista Brewing. He mentioned that his “girlfriend” (now wife), Jennie, would join us later. The moment he saw her walk in, his face lit up like a kid in a candy store—he was just so excited to have her there. It was the most beautiful thing. It was a reminder that another chance does it exist, that your person is out there, and you don’t have to settle.
—LaToya Scott, TDCAA Meeting Planner
While it has been a serious pleasure to work with Rob Kepple for so many legitimate reasons, my personal favorite “boss moment” was Rob’s granting me a nickname. Early on in my TDCAA tenure, at a staff meeting Rob referred to me as “TDCAA’s Road Warrior.” I was grateful the task of nicknaming me had not been left to former Training Director Erik Nielsen, who would have coined something less complimentary (but doubtlessly permanent). While comparisons to Mel Gibson and one of his famous roles might explain why I like the name, the real reason is that it clearly communicated that my boss completely understands the effort and sacrifice I make to the team. Using that moniker is him saying, “Thank you and good job.” So on his retirement, I don’t have a clever nickname to grant, but to Rob I want to say, “Thank you and good job.”
—W. Clay Abbott, TDCAA DWI Resource Prosecutor
Rob’s accomplishments over the years stretch far beyond putting together a staff of 17 and overseeing a multimillion-dollar budget. In the years he has spent at TDCAA:
• He was TDCAA’s first official “Penal Code Ranger,” a badge-carrying honor he passes on to prosecutors who spend a session working out of TDCAA HQ with the legislature.
• He presented Legislative Updates all over the state, including in towns so small, the hotel TVs had antennas with aluminum foil on them and the roads had feral hogs that were larger than an economy rent car. (I was there for this.)
• He ascended Mount Everest to its base camp.
• He regularly fooled young staff members into falling for his “try to grab my hand” dare, which led to a demonstration of his martial arts skills. (I was dropped like a bag of dirt. More than once.)
Rob has demonstrated and taught so many things to his staff members, including how to work hard but still make time for the important things in life, how to laugh whenever possible, and how to be a family. From snowtubing in New Mexico to tubing down the Guadalupe River, I’ve loved every minute of it. Here’s to Rob’s next great adventures! We’ll never forget the adventures we’ve had.
—Diane Beckham, TDCAA Senior Staff Counsel
I had been working at TDCAA only a few weeks when an ice storm blew through overnight. Newly transplanted from Iowa, I scraped off my car as I normally would and drove slowly to the office—which I found nearly deserted. Only Rob was inside. “What are you doing here?” he asked, seemingly surprised to see me.
“It’s Tuesday,” I answered. “It’s a workday.”
“The office is closed,” he told me.
“Oh,” I said, confused. “Why?”
He looked at me strangely. “Because of the ice storm.”
“But the roads are fine,” I said. “Only the sidewalks are bad.”
Rob smiled. “As an Iowan, you know that, and as an Ohioan, I know that—but people down here do not know that. The whole city is shut down.”
We shared a good chuckle (yes, at the expense of Texans, who don’t have to deal with bad winter weather most of the time), just two Midwesterners who both call Texas home. I have long been grateful for Rob’s practicality (which comes from his Ohio roots), as well as his hospitality (pure Texas), as he is truly the best of both worlds. I will dearly miss these things—and so many more of his wonderful traits.
—Sarah Halverson, TDCAA Communications Director
I think one of my favorite memories of Rob is from our 2024 Annual Conference while on Galveston island’s Historic Pleasure Pier. Not long after conference attendees arrived at the pier’s amusement park, Rob took to the sky on the Texas Star Flyer, where he was suspended more than 230 feet in the air and swinging out over the Gulf of Mexico. As I watched him from below with my two feet planted firmly on the ground, it reminded me of what a courageous, strong, and fearless leader he has been for our TDCAA staff and for Texas prosecution.
I would like to say how thankful I am to Rob for choosing me to serve as TDCAA’s Director of Victim Services and how it has been an absolute pleasure to work for TDCAA and our members for the past 10 years.
—Jalayne Robinson, TDCAA Victim Services Director
My favorite moments of Rob are when he is in such a good mood (which is most of the time) that he does a little sidestep down the hall while snapping his fingers and singing a tune (usually “Hang On Sloopy”). He is usually singing when he brings me the membership letters he has signed. It always makes me smile.
—Kaylene Braden, TDCAA Membership Director & Assistant Database Manager
It is amazing to realize how much of our state’s body of law has been touched by Rob. He has had a hand in drafting, debating, or fixing many of our most important state laws, whether it be DWIs or dog maulings or the death penalty. In every courthouse in this state, lawyers and judges operate on a daily basis within the context of laws and systems that Rob helped to create or improve, and the people of Texas would be much worse off if not for his contributions.
—Shannon Edmonds, TDCAA Director of Governmental Relations