Alvin Turner, Jr., District Judge for the 23rd Judicial District, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on March 10, 1955. He is the son of the late Alvin Turner, Sr., of Lutcher, Louisiana and the late Maude Thompson Dumas Turner of Geismar, Louisiana. He is married to Cherlynn Pinell Turner. Judge Turner and his wife have three (3) children, Travis (a practicing attorney in Louisiana), Tyler (a 2007 graduate of LSU in Sociology), and Terrilyn (a 2009 graduate of LSU in Mass Communication). They reside in Gonzales, Louisiana. Judge Turner has one grandson, Tristan, two granddaughters, A'lana and Tori, and one step-grandson, Kameron.
Judge Turner began his educational pursuits at Prairieville High School and Kennedy High School in Ascension Parish. He is a 1973 graduate of East Ascension High School and subsequently obtained his B.S. degree from LSU in Baton Rouge in the fall of 1976. He received his J.D. Degree from Southern University Law Center in 1980. His work experience has included Capital Area Legal Services, 23rd Judicial Indigent Defender Program and the District Attorney’s Office for the 23rd Judicial District as an assistant district attorney from 1982 to 1993.
Judge Turner ascended to the bench on January 1, 1994. Judge Turner is a member of the Louisiana District Judges Association, Louisiana Judicial Council, National Judges Association, Fifth Circuit Judges Association, Wex Malone Inns of Court, National Council for Juvenile and Family Court Judges, American Judges Association, National Judicial College…and has served on committees appointed by the Louisiana Supreme Court in addition to periodically serving as a panelist at various judicial seminars. He has served as the Chief Judge for the 23rd Judicial District.
Judge Turner is involved in several community organizations, namely, United People for Progress, Jambalaya Festival Association, and the Geismar Volunteer Fire Department. He has served on the Gonzales Planning and Zoning Committee and in the Gonzales Youth Basketball League for over 20 years, where he was a coach and later director.
He and his family attend Word of Life Christian Center in Darrow, Louisiana.