Tulia is a city in and the county seat of Swisher County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,967 at the 2010 census; by the 2020 census, it had fallen to 4,473.

1999 drug arrest scandal

In July 1999, the town of Tulia gained national attention due to its involvement in the controversial war on drugs. Undercover Officer Tom Coleman conducted a sting operation that led to forty-seven citizens accused of dealing cocaine, equating to ten to twenty percent of the African American population being incarcerated.

Despite being tried, convicted, and sentenced to decades in prison, a group of attorneys led by Amarillo civil rights attorney Jeff Blackburn and Vanita Gupta from the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, ultimately succeeded in having the defendants released. In 2003 Texas Governor Rick Perry granted full pardons to thirty-five of the Tulia defendants.

Geography

Tulia is located at . It is located south of Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Tulia has a semiarid climate, BSk on climate maps.

Record low

Tulia holds the record for the lowest temperature in Texas, , set during the Great Blizzard of 1899. The temperature was matched by Seminole, Texas, in 1933.

Demographics

2020 census

{| class="wikitable"

|+Tulia racial composition<br> (NH = Non-Hispanic)

!Race

!Number

!Percentage

|-

|White (NH)

|1,602

|35.81%

|-

|Black or African American (NH)

|365

|8.16%

|-

|Native American or Alaska Native (NH)

|10

|0.22%

|-

|Asian (NH)

|5

|0.11%

|-

|Some other race (NH)

|8

|0.18%

|-

|Mixed/multiracial (NH)

|105

|2.35%

|-

|Hispanic or Latino

|2,378

|53.16%

|-

|Total

|4,473

|

|}

As of the 2020 census, Tulia had a population of 4,473, 1,479 households, and 1,025 families. The median age was 35.6 years; 24.4% of residents were under the age of 18 and 16.5% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 119.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 126.3 males age 18 and over.

The population density was 1,257.5 per square mile (485.5/km). There were 1,821 housing units at an average density of 511.9 per square mile (197.7/km); 18.8% of those units were vacant, the homeowner vacancy rate was 3.9%, and the rental vacancy rate was 17.0%.

Of the 1,479 households, 35.0% had children under the age of 18; 45.7% were married couples living together; 16.6% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present; and 30.4% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 27.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

American Community Survey estimates

The 2016-2020 5-year American Community Survey estimates show that the median household income was $30,500 (with a margin of error of +/- $4,753). The median family income was $31,419 (+/- $6,378). Males had a median income of $34,476 (+/- $7,351) versus $10,744 (+/- $2,212) for females. The median income for those above 16 years old was $24,115 (+/- $10,197). Approximately, 33.3% of families and 33.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 49.9% of those under the age of 18 and 18.4% of those ages 65 or over.

The average household size was 2.6 and the average family size was 3.4. The percent of those with a bachelor’s degree or higher was estimated to be 11.4% of the population.

2000 census

As of the census of 2000,

Media

;Newspapers:

  • Swisher County News

In media

A documentary Tulia, Texas: Scenes from the Drug War was filmed by Sarah Kunstler and Emily Kunstler in 2003, and won the Best Documentary Short award at Woodstock Film Festival. Another documentary, titled Tulia, Texas, filmed by Cassandra Herman and Kelly Whalen, premiered in 2008 at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin and aired on PBS February 10, 2009.

The Tulia 47 drug sting events were to feature in a film directed by John Singleton and starring Billy Bob Thornton and Halle Berry. The 1999 drug arrests were also explored in the documentary American Drug War: The Last White Hope.

Rattlesnake is a 2019 crime drama mystery film set in Tulia.

Notable people

  • Tim Curry, district attorney in Tarrant County, Texas, from 1972 to 2009
  • Marshal Dutton, singer and guitarist for the band Hinder

See also

Notes

References

  • City of Tulia
  • Search the Tulia Herald from 1918 to 1956
  • Tulia Independent School District
  • (documentary)