Dills, Ralph C.

Dills, a native of Texas, was a public school teacher. He represented the Sixty-ninth District in the California State Assembly from 1939 to 1949. He later served as a justice of the peace and municipal judge (1949-1966), and California State Senator (1967-1990). Ralph Dill's principal legislative interest has been to protect, preserve and expand California's public education system. His legislation has included bills to create such institutions as El Camino Community College and California State University, Long Beach. He and other Los Angeles County legislators also created the foundation for a school of law at the University of California, Los Angeles. In addition to sponsoring numerous bills contributing to teacher collective bargaining and retirement systems, he authored landmark bills addressing waste management and promoting California tourism.

From the description of Oral history interview with Ralph C. Dills : oral history transcript / By Carlos Vasquez, University of California Los Angeles for the State Government Oral History Program, California State Archives, 1989. (University of California, Berkeley). WorldCat record id: 215195119

Biography

Ralph C. Dills, Democrat, was elected to the 69th Assembly District, one of the thirty districts representing Los Angeles County in 1938. He won the seat with 65% of the vote. Dills resigned in June, 1949, to become a Justice Court Judge. Two years later he was appointed a Municipal Court Judge where he served for 16 years. In 1966 he ran a successful campaign for the 32nd Senatorial district in Los Angeles County. After the 1970 reapportionment the 32nd district included the cities of Avalon, Carson, Compton, Gardena, Hawthorne, Lawndale, Lomita, Redondo Reach, part of South Los Angeles and San Pedro-Wilmington, as well as the Long Beach harbor area and Santa Catalina Island.

In the 1980 reapportionment the new 30th Senate District included all or parts of Carson, Compton, Florence, Gardena, Harbor City, Lawndale, Lomita, Long Beach, Lynwood, Paramount, Watts, Willowbrook and Wilmington. (California State Library Bio File). In 1990 Dills was elected to represent the 30th Senatorial District and represented all or parts of Compton, Dominguez, East Compton, Harbor City, Keystone, La Rambla, L. A. Harbor Gateway, Long Beach, San Pedro, Torrance Strip, and Wilmington. In addition, Senator Dills co-represented the following cities and areas of the 30th Senate District with Senator Teresa Hughes: Athens, Florence, Gardena, Gardena Strip, Lynwood, Moneta, Paramount, Willowbrook, and Wilmington.

Ralph C. Dills was born on a farm in Rosston, Cooke County, Texas in 1910 to Jesse Maro Canada Dills and Viola Bohannon both from Texas. He was one of eight children, six boys and two girls. According to his correspondence, his paternal grandfather was from Dillsborough, North Carolina and his grandmother was Cynthia Cooper also of North Carolina. His family lived in Oklahoma and Arizona before they moved to Glendale, California in 1925 where he graduated from Glendale High School. He worked while attending Compton Junior College, the University of California where he received an A.B. degree; USC where he received his MA degree and general secondary teaching credential; and Loyola University School of Law where he received an LL.B. degree. He was married to Effie Wymore, with whom he had one son. Prior to running for the Assembly he was a school teacher.

During his term in the Assembly he authored legislation relating to brokers and salesmen of minerals, oil and gas. He was also interested in a variety of issues such as health, and carried legislation providing state subsidies to counties for care to patients suffering from tuberculosis. He successfully carried legislation regarding social welfare issues such as increasing old age allowance. He was a strong advocate of the judicial system and through his efforts established the Superior and Municipal Courts in Paramount, Lynwood, Watts, Willowbrook, Compton, East Gardena and Carson areas; and judicial administrative functions such as traveling expenses for substitute judges and salary increases for judges and other court attaches. Legislation relating to education included establishing the Long Beach State University, providing educational funding for veterans and their dependents, establishing evening schools for adults and minors, and requiring that schools provide instruction in American history and the Constitution. In addition, to educational funding, Dills was also concerned with improving benefits for public employees and teachers. To meet the increasing population and growth in industrial activities due to the war production, he introduced legislation that would facilitate the construction of sewers and sewage disposal works. He was one of the few legislators who voted against interning Japanese during World War II.

In June 1949 he resigned from the Assembly and took a position as Justice of the Peace, South Los Angeles Township. In 1952 he was appointed a Municipal Court Judge, a position he held for six terms. During this time he also taught Political Science at Long Beach State University.

In 1966 he won the 32nd Senatorial District. For the next 32 years Senator Dills would continue to pursue his convictions of increasing educational funding and improving public employer - employee relations by authoring legislation providing for collective bargaining for public employees. Throughout his career he was a strong advocate for peace officers and firemen, and on several occasions he was named "Legislator of the Year" by their organizations. In 1998 he sponsored legislation greatly improving retirement benefits for teachers. From 1970 through 1998 when he retired, he was Chairman of the Senate Governmental Organization Committee, where issues such as alcohol, tobacco, horse racing, labor, the lottery, air pollution and tidelands gas and oil drilling were considered. He was also a member of the Senate Education Committee from 1975 through 1998 and Senate the Appropriations Committee from 1985 through 1998.

In addition to his judicial and legislative careers, he held many leadership positions and was involved in community groups. He was Chairman of the Los Angeles County Delegation of 32 legislators for four years, Democratic Presidential Elector in 1944, 1948 and 1966, and Secretary of the Democratic State Central Committee of Southern California. He had a lifetime secondary teaching credential, and was a Life Member of the PTA of Enterprise High School, President of the Garden Alumni Association, Compton College Alumni Association and the Municipal Court Judges Association for Los Angeles County. He also served as Junior Governor of the Moose Lodge; Presiding Justice, Elks Lodge; and a member of the Board of Directors of the City of Hope, Kidney Foundation, and the Director of the South Area Boy's Club. He was a member of the York and Scottish Rite Mason 33 degree, National Grange and Farm Bureau and a life member of the League of United Latin American Citizens, Japanese American Citizens League, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He was a past president of the National Association of State Legislatures, a position he held while serving in the Senate.

Senator Dills served 42 years in the Legislature, more than any other Legislator. He also was the longest serving presiding officer of the Senate earning him the title of "Emeritis Presiding Officer of the Senate". He and his brother Clayton were the only brothers to ever serve in the Legislature at the same time. They both served in the Assembly from 1942 when Clayton was elected until 1949 when Ralph resigned to become a Justice Court Judge.

Senator Dills died May 16, 2002 in Rocklin, California where he lived on his ranch. His wife, Elizabeth Lee preceded him in death. He had three children and two grandchildren.

Ralph C. Dills served on the following committees during his term in the Legislature as an Assemblyman from 1938 - 1949 and as a Senator from 1967 - 1998. This information was derived from the Legislative Handbook In Sacramento and the Senate and Assembly Final Histories.

State Assembly, 1938-1949

State Senate, 1966-1998

From the guide to the Ralph C. Dills Papers, 1963-1998, (California State Archives)