Stay in touch with Sean Teare

About SEAN

Born and raised in Harris County, Sean grew up with outspoken activist parents who marched for Civil Rights in the 60s and instilled in him a powerful sense of empathy and justice. After his mom tragically succumbed to addiction, Sean stepped up and helped raise his younger siblings. He attended St. Thomas High School and then went on to graduate from the University of Houston with a bachelor’s in American history & later, a JD from the Law Center.

Sean has spent his life defending the innocent, putting away violent criminals & most of all, making sure that justice is served.

He served as a prosecutor with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office for 11 years, including 6 years as the Division Supervisor of the Office’s Vehicular Crimes Division, where he became a familiar face on local news as he personally responded to hundreds of fatal accident scenes.

Sean has been married to his wife Lauren for 17 years. They have four kids – Wyatt, Beau, Sadie, and Mimi. In his free time, Sean coaches his kids’ little league teams, plays shuffleboard & attends ball games. The family are members of the St. Michael’s Catholic Church. They live in Harris County along with their dog Sixbits, their three cats Precious, Tux, & Tiny – along with a goldfish by the name of Jackie Robinson, Fred the turtle, Spot the spotted gecko, and two bunny rabbits by the name of Flossy & Fluffy.

Why I’m Running

I fell in love with the work of the District Attorney office as an intern while in law school. I am an ardent believer in the prosecutor’s oath – which is to see that justice is served in every case, whether that means dismissing charges, finding a way to give second chances to those who deserve them, or seeking severe sentences for those who are truly a danger to our community.

I believe that our criminal justice system can operate with both empathy AND efficiency. I believe that we don’t have to choose between safety and justice – that we can reform the system to make it more fair while simultaneously protecting our citizens from violent criminals. It’s what drove me to come back to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office in 2016 to work with the new leadership to implement a fresh vision for criminal justice in our county. Sadly, the next six years proved to me that the new administration was more interested in political games and personal vendettas than in real change. Eventually, I came to the realization that improving the system would be impossible as long as the current leadership continued to place personal interests over public service.

Today, the Harris County DA’s office is facing serious challenges. Morale is at an all time low, causing prosecutors to leave in droves to take lower paying jobs elsewhere because the work environment is so toxic. This dysfunction has led to a massive backlog of felony cases, which in turn has led to a steady stream of mistakes which leaves non-violent and low-level offenders locked up awaiting trial for months, while serious threats to the community are released back onto our streets. I’m running because Harris County deserves a working criminal justice system for all.  It’s time to stop playing politics and get our institutions working again. Harris County is the third largest county in the nation. We should be leading the nation on criminal justice. Under my leadership, we will.