Matthew Van Houten was first elected as District Attorney of Tompkins County, New York in 2016. The City of Ithaca is the primary municipality in Tompkins County and is the home of Cornell University and Ithaca College. During his first term, Van Houten served on the planning group for the first mental health court in New York’s Sixth Judicial District and on the Policy Coordinating Group for the Ithaca Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program. Prior to being elected, Van Houten was in private practice for more than twenty years, handling criminal defense, family court and civil litigation matters. He is a graduate of Albany Law School of Union University and the United States Military Academy. From 2009 – 2012 Van Houten served as the representative of USA Team Handball on the US Olympic Committee Athletes’ Advisory Committee, the last four years as chair.