Rep. Bell Jr., Cecil

Biography

Representative Cecil Bell, Jr. is a sixth generation Texan whose family has been in the State of Texas since 1852. The oldest of three siblings, he was born in Rosenberg but was raised all across Texas.
 
A 2009 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist for the Southwest Region, Representative Bell serves as the CEO of nine active enterprises, providing clients with a variety of services and creating jobs for Texans.
Cecil’s cow/calf ranching operations, located in Leon and Freestone Counties, demonstrate his personal commitment to his Texas heritage and to agriculture in Texas.
 
Through the years, Rep. Bell, Jr. has been really involved in his community. He has served as the Chairman of the Greater Magnolia Economic Development Partnership and was president of the Magnolia ISD School Board of Trustees. He is a charter member of the local Rotary  and he also supports his local Future Farmers of America (FFA), youth clubs, area churches, and community organizations. As a Life Member of the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the Texas State Rifle Association (TSRA), Cecil Bell, Jr. believes in our 2nd Amendment right to have and bear arms.
 
This is Rep. Bell's fifth Session in the Texas Legislature. He currently serves as Chair of the House Appropriations Sub-Committee on Strategic Fiscal Rev. & Fed. Relief Funds and Vice Chair of the House Appropriations Committee for Articles VI, VII, and VIII. In addition, he sits on the House Committee on International Relations and Economic Development. Throughout his years at the Legislature, he worked on dual credit access to career and technology courses; ensured Prairie View A&M University's eligibility to use unexpended balances for the Center for Study and Prevention of Juvenile Crime and Delinquency; updated the definition of first responder to include our vitally important and hard working emergency response operators and emergency services dispatchers; and authorized a property owner to request a protest hearing notice to be delivered by certified mail or email. Rep. Bell also authored legislation to combat inadequate landfill permitting like the proposed landfill in Hempstead and legislation to protect the rights of property owners in an eminent domain proceeding.
 
Cecil met his high school sweetheart and now-wife, Jo Ann, at the 1979 National Meeting of the Beta Club Honor Society. The Bells moved to Magnolia in 1993. He and Jo Ann have two boys. Cecil “Trey” Bell, III and Charlie Bell. The Bell family attends the Magnolia Church of Christ, where Cecil served many years as a Deacon.