Honorable Dee Ann Hawthorne
District Judge Dee A. Hawthorne was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana where she graduated from high school in 1960. She married Harry E. Hawthorne and together they have raised three children. They moved to Alexandria, Louisiana, where she returned to college and earned her Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Louisiana College in Pineville, Louisiana in 1978. She later taught music and was the choir director at the Cathedral in Alexandria. Judge Hawthorne is currently a member of St. Augustine Catholic Church where she also serves as volunteer choir director.
She continued her education at Northwestern State University and graduated with a Master of Music in 1980. From 1983 to 1985, she attended Louisiana State University Law School where she graduated with a juris doctorate.
Judge Hawthorne began her legal career by serving as law clerk to the late Judge Jimmy Stoker of the Court of Appeal, Third Circuit. Thereafter, in 1986, she began a legal practice in Natchitoches, Louisiana, where she had a general law practice involving both civil and criminal matters, in addition to her work as a civil and family law mediator. She continued her law practice until she was elected to the Tenth Judicial District Court, Division B, in 2004. She took office that same year. Judge Hawthorne, hears a wide variety of both civil and criminal matters. in Natchitoches Parish, including all juvenile matters heard in district court.
Active in her community, Judge Hawthorne has served as president of the Rotary Club and St. Denis Inn of Court. She has been Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kisatchie Legal Services, Inc. and CASA. She has served as a board member for DOVES, the Northwestern Symphony Society, the Northwestern State University Athletic Association, and the Krewe of Dionysos.
Judge Hawthorne and her husband have three adult children, Dr. Harry R. Hawthorne, W. Scott Hawthorne, and Deborah Dee Hawthorne Gulbrand, and six grandchildren.